EL7.AI
StocksMedium•22 October 2026•
4 min read

GFL at Center of Takeover Contest After Shares Jump 8% in September

Key Facts

1GFL shares rose 8% before the market opened, according to a report published on September 17, 2026, about the competition to buy the company.
2GFL's revenue reached C$1,947.8 million in the second quarter of 2026.
3Second-quarter revenue grew 16.3%, including a 6.1% contribution from core pricing.
4BC Partners' holding represented 17.9% of subordinate voting shares and 12.9% of total voting rights as of March 31, 2026.
5GFL will release third-quarter results after the market closes on October 28, 2026, and hold an investor call on October 29, 2026.

Investment consortia are competing to buy GFL Environmental and take it private, according to a report published by Investing.com on September 17, 2026, citing Bloomberg. The report said KKR, Energy Capital Partners and Blackstone had formed a consortium to bid for the company. Brookfield Asset Management and IFM Investors had teamed up on a rival bid, it added, putting two groups of investment firms in pursuit of an acquisition. GFL had confirmed in its second-quarter earnings statement that it had received unsolicited preliminary interest from multiple parties regarding a take-private transaction. It said its board had formed a special committee of independent directors to oversee potential discussions with those parties. The company cautioned in the same statement that this preliminary interest does not guarantee a transaction.

News of the competition was accompanied by an 8% rise in GFL shares before the market opened, according to the Investing.com report published in September. On the shareholder front, the company's circular filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission showed that BC Partners held 62,062,374 subordinate voting shares as of March 31, 2026. Those shares represented 17.9% of the subordinate voting share class, according to the ownership table in the circular. Its share of the company's total voting rights stood at 12.9% on the same date. That holding predates the completion of GFL's acquisition of Secure Waste Infrastructure, whose financing included the issuance of new shares.

BC Partners' relationship with GFL dates back to May 2018, when it began investing in the company, according to its portfolio page. BC Partners describes the company as a leading provider of diversified environmental solutions in North America. The relationship included a direct share repurchase in March 2025, according to an announcement by GFL. The company bought 17,050,298 subordinate voting shares from funds managed by BC Partners at the time. The transaction was executed at a net price of US$46.92 per share, with the shares purchased for cancellation.

The take-private discussions come against a backdrop of operating growth, with GFL reporting revenue of C$1,947.8 million in the second quarter of 2026, according to its earnings statement. Revenue grew 16.3% during the quarter, according to figures released by the company. That growth included a 6.1% contribution from core pricing, which the company listed among the components of revenue performance. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, GFL described revenue from its operations as "predictable and recurring in nature." The company attributed those characteristics to stable waste generation and the contractual nature of its business lines, explaining the operating basis for its revenue stream.

Alongside the potential takeover process, GFL announced the completion of its acquisition of Secure Waste Infrastructure. The transaction was financed through a combination of borrowing and share issuance, according to the company's acquisition completion statement. GFL used its revolving credit facility as one of the deal's funding sources. It also issued 75,126,306 subordinate voting shares, the same class cited in the disclosure of BC Partners' ownership. The financing included a new US$1 billion secured loan, alongside the revolving credit facility and the shares issued.

On the second-quarter earnings call, Chief Executive Patrick Dovigi addressed the impact of the take-private discussions on the company's decisions, according to the call transcript published on Investing.com. Dovigi was asked whether the discussions would lead to a reduction in share buybacks, dividend growth or acquisitions. He replied: "No, it's business as usual." GFL plans to release its third-quarter results after the market closes on October 28, 2026, according to its earnings date announcement. An investor call will follow on October 29, 2026, marking the next presentation of the company's financial performance.