HK's Li buys Dutch waste company for 944M euros

HONG KONG (AP) -- Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing is buying a Dutch waste and renewable energy company for 943.7 million euros ($1.3 billion).

A group of Li's companies including Cheung Kong Infrastructure said Monday they were buying AVR-Afvalverwerking BV.

Li's companies said they were buying the company because it represents a "compelling long-term investment opportunity for the consortium."

Van Gansewinkel Groep, which is selling the company, said the deal would close in the third quarter of 2013. The deal still needs clearance from the European Commission's competition authority.

It's the second time this year that Asia's richest man has bought a foreign waste company.

In January, Cheung Kong Infrastructure paid $412 million for New Zealand's second-biggest garbage disposal company, Envirowaste.