Canada's Competition Bureau challenges GFL purchase of rival, shares drop 4%

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's Competition Bureau said on Wednesday it was challenging GFL Environmental Inc's purchase of Terrapure Environmental Inc, saying the deal would harm customers of industrial waste and oil recycling services.

In a statement, the bureau said Terrapure had been GFL's closest competitor in western Canadian markets before being bought for C$927 million ($725 million) in August. It said the deal was likely to cause substantial lessening of competition in three western Canadian provinces.

GFL's shares initially fell by 2% on the Toronto stock exchange and then continued weakening. By 12:25 p.m. Eastern Time (1725 GMT, they were trading down by just over 4%.

In a statement, the firm said it intended "to work cooperatively with the Competition Bureau to resolve this matter" and noted the locations in question generated annual revenue of C$30 million.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Marguerita Choy)