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Laidlaw Waste System Inc. history
Laidlaw Waste System Inc. company history timeline
Laidlaw International was founded by Robert Laidlaw as a trucking company in 1924 in Haggersville, Ontario, Canada.
While the company continues to bear his name, in reality the man behind its growth was Michael G. DeGroote, who bought Laidlaw in 1958.
The company was founded in 1966, just as regulations regarding waste disposal were changing.
The company was started in 1969 by Tom Fatjo, Lou Waters and Norman Myers, BFI's current executive vice president.
In 1969 he took Laidlaw public, its shares being listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Also in 1969 DeGroote began to expand beyond trucking by acquiring a solid waste management company.
Moreover, in 1972 he achieved some diversity by acquiring a Canadian intercity and charter bus company.
Van Weelden started a small company of his own in 1975, working the trucks until noon and soliciting new accounts for the rest of the day.
In 1978 DeGroote moved into the United States solid waste industry.
In 1979 he acquired his first school bus business in Canada.
However, when the economy stalled, Boss-Linco floundered, forcing Laidlaw to take a $5.9 million write-off in 1982.
By 1983 a Laidlaw subsidiary was the fourth-largest solid waste management firm in the United States.
In the meantime, in 1983, Laidlaw entered the United States school bus transportation market and in that same year began listing its shares in the United States on the NASDAQ. The main thrust of the company at this stage, however, remained solid waste management.
Busing also became the biggest contributor to Laidlaw's balance sheet, accounting for half of the company's $550 million in revenues in 1985.
Laidlaw acquired another 11 bus transportation companies in 1985.
In 1986 Laid-law attempted to achieve a major growth spurt by acquiring Mayflower Group Inc., known for its moving vans but a company that was also heavily involved in school buses, operating 4,500 of them, thus making it Laidlaw next closest rival.
He founded Allied Waste in 1987 as a public company, and began buying waste companies.
In 1988 DeGroote sold his 47 percent controlling stake in Laidlaw to Canadian Pacific for $450 million in cash and stock.
"Allied Waste Industries Announces the Acquisition of Sanco for Stock and Cash," PR Newswire, January 16, 1990, http://www .prnewswire.com.
He agreed to stay on as CEO and chairman but in June 1990 retired to Bermuda, where the 56-year-old soon grew bored and again turned his attention to the waste management business.
Early Company Growth: 1990
It was also in 1990 that Laidlaw gained a listing on the New York Stock Exchange for its Class A and Class B shares.
After posting a net profit of $215 million in fiscal 1990, Laidlaw lost $344 million a year later, while the value of its stock dropped 70 percent.
Other purchases in 1991 expanded the existing markets in the above five states.
The company's rapid growth didn't go unnoticed by Van Weelden, who formed Allied Waste in 1992.
Since its founding in 1992 CareLine had acquired 22 small ambulance companies located in nine states.
In addition, he took Laidlaw into the United States ambulance sector with the June 1993 acquisition of MedTrans.
Jackson maintained that Laidlaw was on the verge of strong growth, but by now he had fallen out of favor with his board of directors, and in October 1993, following a board meeting, he tendered his resignation.
The acquisition was completed on December 30, 1996.
Thomas Van Weelden was an unusual leader. "In my family," he said in a 1997 interview with Forbes, "there is nothing wrong with being a garbage man." Consequently, Van Weelden required his management trainees to spend a year on the trucks.
In 1997 it sold its properties outside the United States.
In 1998, Allied Waste expanded into the Pacific Northwest buy acquiring the Rabanco Company for $400 million.
While BFI's purchase was a major triumph for Allied Waste, the resulting financial burden made for a difficult year in 1999.
In AWI's 1999 annual report, Van Weelden said: "Going forward, it all comes down to our ability to control costs and deliver margins on a much larger asset base than before.
By 1999 Laidlaw was in trouble and began taking corrective action.
By the end of 2001, revenues reached roughly $5.6 billion.
As Allied Waste entered 2002, it appeared that the second largest solid waste disposal company in the United States was working its magic again.
Laidlaw emerged from bankruptcy protection in June 2003, at which point it assumed the name Laidlaw International Inc.
"Laidlaw International, Inc. ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/laidlaw-international-inc
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