Shinhan, 3i, DWS to sell Dutch waste treatment firm to Ardian

South Korea’s Shinhan Asset Management Co., London-based 3i Group plc and Germany's DWS Group are set to sell their combined full stake in Dutch waste treatment company Attero to French private equity firm Ardian at around 1.2 trillion won ($902.6 million), according to banking sources on Wednesday.

Shinhan acquired a 17.4% stake in Attero for 100 billion won in 2018 and sold the shares to local institutional investors including Lotte Insurance Co., Shinhan Life Insurance Co., Yellow Umbrella Mutual Aid Fund and Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance Co. 

The asset management arm of Shinhan Financial Group is poised to sell its minority stake for 210 billion won, sources said. Attero's value has jumped as the environmental, social and governance (ESG) sector is attracting investments, sources added.

Shinhan acquired the stake by participating in 3i Infrastructure plc’s €201 million deal ($215.8 million) to together buy a 50% stake in Attero in 2018. DWS Group owns the other 50% stake.

3i Infrastructure, which holds the management rights of Attero, has recently decided to divest of entire stake in the waste treatment firm and has begun relevant procedures, sources said.

Attero is a leading waste treatment company in the Netherlands. It owns energy-from-waste plants, waste sorting and pre-treatment facilities, anaerobic digestion facilities and landfills. The company processes 3.6 million tons of waste from municipalities and businesses and generates more than 800 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of renewable electricity a year, equivalent to powering 300,000 homes.

Ardian, which manages and advises on more than $150 billion of assets as of August, has expertise in private equity, real assets and credit.

The Paris-based firm has drawn capital from Korean limited partners for years. In 2021, seven institutions including National Pension Service (NPS), Korea Teachers’ Credit Union (KTCU), Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) and NongHyup committed $730 million to Ardian's $4 billion secondaries fund for infrastructure assets.


Write to Byeong-Hwa Ryu at hwahwa@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article.