On Wednesday we introduced you to the deal team at the nation's No. 2 solid waste management company,
Republic Services Inc. Thursday, we take a look at corporate development at industry leader Waste Management Inc., which wants to
buy Republic for $6.2 billion to block Republic's
planned merger with Allied Waste Industries Inc.
It's not clear who's working deals behind-the-scenes at Waste Management, which rolled up dozens of independent haulers in the 1970s and '80s and was itself bought by smaller rival USA Waste Services Inc. for $13.5 billion in 1998. As best we could tell from the company's Web site and press reports, the job of senior vice president of business development and corporate strategy is vacant or has been eliminated. We've got a call into the company to confirm, but it appears that
Richard T. Felago, who held a number of senior jobs at the company, vacated the corporate strategy position sometime in 2007, after three years. There's nothing on the Web site about a replacement, and the position is no longer listed on the company's
leadership Web page, despite having been there when Felago was in the job.
For now at least, it appears Waste Management is relying on regional teams to source and manage acquisitions. On its Web site and in
print ads in industry trade publications, the company directs haulers interested in selling to or buying from Waste Management to contact business development vice presidents in the appropriate region.
So who's running dealmaking at the corporate level, particularly as Waste Management pursues Republic Services, a $4.5 billion company that posted revenue of $3.1 billion in 2007? Well, certainly chief executive
David Steiner, who joined the company in 2000 and who served as corporate secretary, general counsel and CFO before taking the head job in 2004, is taking the lead. But with a background in M&A, general counsel
Rick L. Wittenbraker, is likely playing a lead role. Wittenbraker was previously an attorney with the M&A-focused Houston firm of Bracewell and Patterson, where he worked with energy companies.
- Suzanne Stevens
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