French utility Veolia agrees to sell Suez UK assets to Macquarie for 2.4 billion euros

A emblem on the home windows of the Veolia Environnement headquarters in Paris, France, February 9, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

PARIS, Aug 8 (Reuters) – French utility firm Veolia confirmed it will promote Suez’s UK waste enterprise to Australia’s Macquarie Group Ltd (MQG.AX) for round 2.4 billion euros ($2.4 billion), in a deal geared toward resolving antitrust issues.

“Following this transaction, Veolia will stay a significant participant within the waste sector in the UK and, extra broadly, within the environmental companies market within the area, which stays strategic for the group,” stated Veolia chief govt Estelle Brachlianoff.

Veolia had earlier stated that it was proposing to unload its former rival, Suez’s UK waste enterprise, after Britain’s Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) raised objections to the Veolia/Suez mixture.

Veolia’s shares rose round 3% in early session buying and selling – the highest performers on Paris’ SBF-120 (.SBF120) fairness index.

Throughout a convention name, Brachlianoff stated she was “very assured” over acquiring all of the regulatory approvals concerning the deal, including it must be finalized by the top of the yr.

She additionally stated a small asset sale within the industrial water enterprise was nonetheless wanted in Britain.

“After the disposal of the cures agreed with the European Fee and the signature of the settlement with Macquarie Asset Administration, nearly all the antitrust divestitures could have been finalized lower than a yr after the acquisition of Suez,” the corporate added.

The disposals, amounting to a complete of three.4 billion euros, would additionally end in a significant discount in Veolia’s debt leverage.

In December final yr, Veolia and Suez gained EU antitrust approval for his or her 13 billion euro tie-up, after a months-long dispute together with authorized motion and a transfer by Suez to ring-fence its French water enterprise from Veolia, although that was later deserted after the businesses reached an settlement. learn extra

The deal was later closed on Jan. 7, with Veolia controlling 86% of Suez.

($1 = 0.9821 euros)

Reporting by Benjamin Mallet and Benoit Van Overstraeten;
Modifying by Sudip Kar-Gupta

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