Deffenbaugh Industries will be purchased by a major international company.

DLJ Merchant Banking Partners announced Monday that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Shawnee-based company, which owns and operates the more than 800-acre Johnson County Landfill.

DLJ, a private equity investment affiliate of Credit Suisse, did not disclose the purchase price but said the transaction was expected to close by the end of the year. According to the company’s news release, DLJ has a 22-year record of investing in leveraged buyouts and related transactions across a broad range of industries.

Tom Coffman, a spokesman for Deffenbaugh, said the announcement was made to the company’s 1,900 employees Monday at noon. He said initial conversations with DLJ began about a year ago.

Not much will change with the purchase, Coffman said. Deffenbaugh’s senior management team will continue with the company, and the company plans to keep the same employees. The Deffenbaugh name will remain on trucks used by the company.

Coffman said Deffenbaugh, a sponsor of many community events, also would continue to be active in the community.

“DLJ knew about our involvement in community, and that’s part of why they found us attractive,” he said. “We’ll still be involved in the same level if not more.”

The change in ownership also will not affect the city’s permit issued for the landfill, which mandates that the operation must close by 2027.

“We’re scrambling to make sure that it stays open that long,” Coffman said. “We’re going to do everything we can to continue to operate the landfill as we have, and hopefully there will be an increased emphasis on recycling.”

Deffenbaugh was founded in 1957 and serves approximately 450,000 customers in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. In addition to the Johnson County Landfill, one of the largest privately-owned landfills in the United States, Deffenbaugh operates one of the largest recycling facilities in the country, has rock quarrying operations and owns Johnny on the Spot, a portable toilet business.