Republic Services

Republic Services, Inc founded in 1996 is the second largest non-hazardous solid waste management company in the United States after Waste Management, Inc since 2008. It has been hailed on Wall Street for its increase in share price, and attracted celebrity investors Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and states' Department of Environmental Protection have levied several high-profile fines against it; In 2013 the Missouri Attorney General filed a lawsuit about an uncontrolled underground fire at the Bridgeton Sanitary Landfill, polluting air and water and threatening adjacent West Lake Landfill which contains nuclear waste, scheduled to go to trial.

Company history

In June 2008, Republic became the second largest waste management company in the U.S. since it bought larger competitor Allied Waste Industries for US$6.1 billion in Republic stock. The merged company retained the Republic name. On July 14, 2008, competitors Waste Management, Inc announced a $34 per share offer to acquire Republic Services. which the Republic Services board of directors rejected 4 days later stating it "remains committed to the Allied Waste transaction." Republic rejected a second offer of $37 per share on August 15, 2008. The Wall Street Journal reported in June 2010 that Republic Services’ $4 billion acquisition of Allied in December 2008 "has been successful from the start", delivering at the high end of the annual savings projected when they did the deal ($191 million), a 27% increase in share price. In mid-2009, Warren Buffett accumulated about 10 million shares equaling a roughly 3% stake, while Bill Gates remained one of the largest investors, with a roughly 15% stake.