Republic, Allied Waste to divest assets to do deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republic Services Inc's (RSG.N) $4.3 billion purchase of Allied Waste Industries Inc AW.N has been cleared by U.S. antitrust enforcers, provided the companies divest assets in 15 metropolitan areas to preserve competition.

Under an agreement announced by the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday, the trash haulers will have to divest assets, including 87 waste collection routes, nine landfills and 10 transfer stations.

The all-stock deal would unite No. 2-ranked Republic with third-ranked Allied Waste to compete with industry leader Waste Management Inc (WMI.N).

The transaction is expected to close shortly, said Chuck Burgess, a spokesman for Republic.

Allied and Republic shareholders approved the deal last month. Allied shareholders are to receive 0.45 of a share of Republic's common stock for each Allied share they own.

The Justice Department said the deal as originally proposed, would have substantially lessened competition in Los Angeles; San Francisco; Denver; Atlanta; Northwestern Indiana; Lexington, Kentucky; Flint, Michigan; Cape Girardeau, Missouri; Charlotte, North Carolina; Cleveland; Philadelphia; Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina; and Fort Worth, Houston, and Lubbock, Texas.

In each of these areas, Republic and Allied were two of only a few large firms providing commercial waste hauling or municipal solid waste disposal services, the government said.

"Without the divestitures ... consumers in 15 areas throughout the United States would have been harmed by a reduction in competition for commercial solid waste collection and disposal," said Deborah Garza, acting chief of the department's antitrust unit, in a statement.

Waste Management in October abandoned a bid to buy Republic, citing turmoil in financial markets.

Shares of Republic closed up 5 cents to $22.03 on Wednesday, while Allied ended up 9 cents at $9.83. Waste Management finished $1.31 higher at $29.69. All three companies trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Tim Dobbyn; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)