Portfolio

Overview

In January 2005, STAR acquired the BUS Group of companies from AGOR AG, a listed German financial holding company.

At the time, BUS was the European market leader in recycling waste from steel and stainless steel production - recovering metals such as zinc, nickel and chromium. Demand for its services was underpinned by stringent European environmental legislation, which was diverting an increasing proportion of waste from landfill to recycling processes. BUS operated five plants located in Germany (Duisburg and Freiberg), France (Gravelines and Lens) and Sweden (Landskrona), and provided services to all the major steel and stainless steel companies.

STAR initiated a plan to transform the BUS business model from an annual fee income into long-term service contracts. However, following strong growth in sales and profit under STAR ownership, BUS was sold to the Befesa Group (an international environmental services company with complementary recycling operations in Spain) in December 2006.