It’s official: Suez sold by Engie to Veolia

The info fell on Monday, October 5 at 8:30 p.m. Engie (60 billion turnover, 170,000 employees), which wants to reinvest massively in renewable energies, has finally accepted Veolia’s offer : he should pocket 3.4 billion to give him the 29.9% he owns at Suez (89,000 employees, 18 billion turnover).

Engie (the former Gaz de France) underlines, in passing, the commitment unconditional of Veolia not to launch a hostile takeover bid on the rest of the capital, on the stock market, during the six months of friendly negotiation promised by Veolia.

It must be said that the State has, through the voice of the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, said and reiterates that it wishes the constitution of a future unified French champion of water and waste on the international scene takes place in a peaceful atmosphere. His voice counts, since the state owns 23.64% of Engie. It counts, but was not enough to block the project. Monday evening, Bercy announced that its representatives voted against the merger. Real opposition or political hypocrisy?

The impossible appeasement?

However, will these six months be enough for Suez, eternal rival, to relent and accept a common project? Nothing is less sure.

Since, on August 30, Veolia (171,000 employees, 27.2 billion turnover) declared itself a candidate, it is the outcry at Suez, both of President Philippe Varin and of its CEO Bertrand Camus, only employees.

It must be said that Veolia has already planned – to ward off criticism from the competition authorities who would block too much concentration in France – to sell entire sections of Suez in France, probably concerning nearly 20,000 employees, to an unknown fund, Meridiam.

To the threats of social conflict, the intersyndicale added the request for a parliamentary commission of inquiry. As for the directors of Suez, on September 23, they transferred part of the capital of the Eau France subsidiary, which Veolia plans to sell to Meridiam, to an inalienable Dutch foundation.

“Butchering”, “dismantling”, “social butchery”, are some of the words that have sprung up in the mouths of the Suez teams who suspect that Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia, wants to eliminate a rival more on the eve of the renewal of a few large contracts in France (notably in Lille and Ile-de-France), than to constitute a world champion.

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