US buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts has booked a profit of A$250m (€153m) in less than a year, after selling Cleanaway to a rival bidder it beat in a takeover battle for the Australian rubbish collection service.

Transpacific Industries, an Australian waste management and industrial cleaning company, yesterday bought Cleanaway in an all-cash deal 11 months after Brambles, an industrial services operator, chose to pass over its bid in favour of a higher offer from KKR.