Key Takeaways
- • Platinum Equity completed the sale of Urbaser, the Madrid-headquartered environmental infrastructure platform, to Blackstone and EQT in a transaction valued at approximately $6.6bn, first announced in February 2026.
- • Blackstone and EQT will each hold a 50 percent stake in Urbaser and jointly oversee its future development.
- • Carlos Albi, currently chief operating officer, becomes chief executive effective 1 January 2027, succeeding Fernando Abril-Martorell, who moves to non-executive chairman after four years as CEO.
- • Platinum Equity's 2021 acquisition from China Tianying Inc. carried an enterprise value of about $4.2bn; during its ownership Urbaser invested EUR 1.6bn in capex and M&A, completed 20 add-on acquisitions and divested 13 non-core assets.
- • Platinum Equity retained Urbaser's Argentine waste management business, which generated roughly $90m of EBITDA in 2025.
Summary
Platinum Equity has completed the sale of Urbaser to private equity firms Blackstone and EQT, according to Financier Worldwide. The transaction, first announced in February 2026, was valued at approximately $6.6bn. Under the terms of the agreement, Blackstone and EQT will each hold a 50 percent stake in the company and jointly oversee its future development. A completion statement said Urbaser will continue delivering environmental management solutions to customers under its new ownership while pursuing further growth in Spain and across its international operations.
Urbaser describes itself as a global environmental infrastructure platform specialising in the collection, management and treatment of municipal and industrial waste. The company serves more than 60 million people through a workforce of over 38,000 employees. Its activities span urban services, including waste collection, street cleaning and water management, municipal waste treatment, and industrial waste treatment. Platinum Equity acquired the company in October 2021 from China Tianying Inc. in a deal with an enterprise value of approximately $4.2bn. As part of the latest transaction, Platinum Equity retained Urbaser's Argentine waste management business, which has operated for three decades and generated approximately $90m of EBITDA in 2025.
During Platinum Equity's ownership, Urbaser invested EUR 1.6bn in capital expenditure and M&A over five years, completing 20 add-on acquisitions and divesting 13 non-core divisions and assets. Revenue and earnings rose strongly and contracted backlog expanded substantially. The sale followed a 2025 refinancing of Urbaser's capital structure that included a portability feature for senior debt and a cross-border payment-in-kind holdco structure.
Leadership changes accompany the transaction. Carlos Albi becomes chief executive effective 1 January 2027, and Fernando Abril-Martorell moves to non-executive chairman. The board includes Albi, Abril-Martorell, Adam Kuhnley and Scott Schultz of Blackstone, Matthias Fackler and Guillermo García-Barrero of EQT. Claudio Boada and Ruud Sondag join as independent directors. Boada sits on the boards of several Spanish infrastructure and real estate companies, including Abertis Infraestructuras, and Sondag is former chief executive of Van Gansewinkel Groep, Eneco and Royal Schiphol Group.
Louis Samson, co-president of Platinum Equity, said Urbaser is "a fundamentally different business than the one we acquired nearly five years ago." Igor Chacartegui, managing director at Platinum Equity, said the company is "more focused and more resilient today." Platinum Equity's European portfolio currently includes a dozen companies across the UK, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Spain, including Solo Group, XD Connects and Sunrise Medical. The publication said the deal highlights strong investor confidence in environmental infrastructure.
Urbaser describes itself as a global environmental infrastructure platform specialising in the collection, management and treatment of municipal and industrial waste. The company serves more than 60 million people through a workforce of over 38,000 employees. Its activities span urban services, including waste collection, street cleaning and water management, municipal waste treatment, and industrial waste treatment. Platinum Equity acquired the company in October 2021 from China Tianying Inc. in a deal with an enterprise value of approximately $4.2bn. As part of the latest transaction, Platinum Equity retained Urbaser's Argentine waste management business, which has operated for three decades and generated approximately $90m of EBITDA in 2025.
During Platinum Equity's ownership, Urbaser invested EUR 1.6bn in capital expenditure and M&A over five years, completing 20 add-on acquisitions and divesting 13 non-core divisions and assets. Revenue and earnings rose strongly and contracted backlog expanded substantially. The sale followed a 2025 refinancing of Urbaser's capital structure that included a portability feature for senior debt and a cross-border payment-in-kind holdco structure.
Leadership changes accompany the transaction. Carlos Albi becomes chief executive effective 1 January 2027, and Fernando Abril-Martorell moves to non-executive chairman. The board includes Albi, Abril-Martorell, Adam Kuhnley and Scott Schultz of Blackstone, Matthias Fackler and Guillermo García-Barrero of EQT. Claudio Boada and Ruud Sondag join as independent directors. Boada sits on the boards of several Spanish infrastructure and real estate companies, including Abertis Infraestructuras, and Sondag is former chief executive of Van Gansewinkel Groep, Eneco and Royal Schiphol Group.
Louis Samson, co-president of Platinum Equity, said Urbaser is "a fundamentally different business than the one we acquired nearly five years ago." Igor Chacartegui, managing director at Platinum Equity, said the company is "more focused and more resilient today." Platinum Equity's European portfolio currently includes a dozen companies across the UK, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Spain, including Solo Group, XD Connects and Sunrise Medical. The publication said the deal highlights strong investor confidence in environmental infrastructure.
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