NSW’s top regional waste management biz JRR hangs out for sale sign

afr.com:

Liked Repurpose It? Meet JR Richards & Sons.

JRR reckons it has a good track record of winning and keeping contracts from councils. 

The 65-year-old business is flaunting its market-leading position in New South Wales’ regional waste management services and $24.8 million in annual earnings as it looks for a new owner to take the keys from its founding family.

Street Talk can reveal JRR has mandated corporate advisory boutique VCA Partners to run the buyer search. VCA has begun early marketing for the business, mailing out an eight-page flyer explaining the units and offering a sneak peek into its financials.

JRR holds municipal collection contracts for 36 of the 73 local government areas that outsource waste management. Its market-leading position was more than just an offhand comment in the flyer, which went on to claim JRR served more customers, more councils and more regions than any other provider in regional NSW.

Prospective buyers were told its clients loved it; over the past decades, JRR had won 78 per cent of municipal solid waste contracts and had a 95 per cent retention rate for existing ones. MSW refers to food scraps, cardboard, cans, building materials and the like collected via kerbside waste and recycling collections.

Financials shared in the flyer put JRR’s revenue for the 2023 financial year at $203 million and adjusted EBITDA at $24.8 million. This was projected to grow to $218 million revenue for $30.6 million earnings this financial year.

Its biggest unit, commercial collection, has about 150 vehicles that collect all types of commercial waste from customers and then oversees the processing or disposal. JRR charges on a per bin basis – including adjustments for heavier loads – on a rate card that’s