Waste disposal group Biffa today said a potential counter-bid for the firm had failed to emerge.
Biffa, which was spun off from Birmingham-based Severn Trent in 2006, recommended a £1.2 billion private equity offer earlier this month, but also gave third parties access to its dataroom following further interest.
However, it said those parties were no longer working towards a competing offer, leaving Biffa in the hands of a consortium led by Montagu Funds.
A newspaper said last week that private equity boss Guy Hands and French industrial group Suez - owner of rival group Sita - were working on a potential joint deal.
Biffa shares topped 370p amid the speculation, well ahead of the 350p a share proposed by the private equity firm.
The company said today: "The Biffa board has now been informed by those third parties that they are no longer working towards making a competing offer for Biffa. As a consequence, the Biffa board is now not aware of any third parties who are working towards making such a competing offer."
A meeting of shareholders will be held on March 12 to approve the offer from the Montagu Private Equity.
Biffa collects more than four million tonnes of waste a year from around 75,000 industrial and commercial customers and over one million households.
Waste companies are seen as attractive targets because they benefit from long-term visibility on contracts, as well as from a bottle-neck on environmental projects as the UK attempts to meet EU landfill targets.
The business has launched national paper, card and glass collections and recycling services for its industrial and commercial customers, and is offering a treatment service to firms who do not want to pre-sort their own rubbish to meet the rules.
The regulations are designed to reduce the amount of non-hazardous waste sent to landfill sites. Buckinghamshire-based Biffa. which has 42 treatment and recycling centres and 33 landfill sites, reported operating profits of £90.7 million in the year to March 30. Revenues were £742.7 million.
Montagu knows the sector well as it formerly owned Cory Environmental, a rival business with a number of landfill sites and local authority contracts. It is working on its bid with Global Infrastructure Partners, a fund previously involved in the 2006 takeover of London City Airport.
