Morgan Stanley mulls £261m bid for UK waste management firm Augean

Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners this morning confirms it’s weighing up a move for UK waste management services company Augean.

The potential acquisition, first reported by Bloomberg, would be the latest in a flurry of take-private deals in the UK.

Morgan Stanley has been considering a potential takeover of Augean, which has a market value of £261m.

Following the announcement, shares in Augean shot up by almost 15 per cent as markets opened.

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The firm, founded in 2004, offers waste management services to companies in a range of sectors including oil and gas.

Its shares have soared 38 per cent on London’s junior Alternative Investment Market in the last year.

Private equity companies are buying British firms at the fastest rate since before the 2008 financial crisis.

Some 123 UK companies, including household names Asda, AA and Butlin’s owner Bourne Group, worth £36bn have been taken private since the outbreak of coronavirus last year., according to Dealogic data.

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