BGI Delivers Letter to Waste Management CEO and Board of Directors

KIRKLAND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BGI, the investment office that manages the assets of Cascade Investment, L.L.C. and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, today announced that it has delivered a letter to the Chief Executive Officer and board of directors of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WMI). The text of the letter appears below.

Dear David and Members of the Board:

As you know, our office manages the assets of Cascade Investment, L.L.C. and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, long-term shareholders of Waste Management, holding in the aggregate approximately 2.3% of the company. We have been impressed by, and supportive of, your achievements in moving Waste Management through challenging times and improving the company’s operating and financial performance.

It is from the perspective of long-term and supportive shareholders that we express our deep concern over your intention to acquire Republic Services, Inc. We can only assume your ill-timed and poorly conceived pursuit of Republic is designed to disrupt what you perceive as a competitive threat to your position in the market. However, we believe your shareholders are better served and the company’s competitive position better protected if you remain focused on continued improvement of the operating and financial performance of existing assets.

An acquisition of Republic will most certainly burden the company with excessive debt, distract your management, result in significant regulatory burdens, and thereby reduce shareholder value. We encourage you to act with the best interests of your shareholders in mind, in a responsible and prudent manner, and to abandon this acquisition.

End Letter

About Cascade Investment, L.L.C. and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust:

Cascade Investment, L.L.C. is wholly owned by William H. Gates III. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust owns and manages the assets that fund Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.