Suez announced that it had signed an “irrevocable promise to buy” with Veolia on Wednesday to acquire, for 2,000 million pounds (2,300 million euros), the old waste activities in the United Kingdom of the former Suez group.
Veolia, which at the end of January absorbed a large part of the historic Suez, was forced by the British competition authorities to cede this asset. It had first announced in August an agreement to sell, at this price, to the Australian asset manager Macquarie Asset Management, but the “new Suez”, an independent entity born after the takeover bid, asserted its “right of first refusal”.
But the “new Suez”, an independent entity born after the takeover bid and which wanted to maintain a strong international presence after most of its foreign subsidiaries passed to Veolia, asserted its “pre-emptive subscription right”, as allowed the agreements concluded at the time of taking possession.
9,000 million euros for the new Suez
The shareholders of Suez – the Meridiam and GIP funds, with the Caisse des Dépôts and CNP Assurances – gave their “full support” to this operation, and the union organizations of Suez in France gave a unanimous favorable opinion, indicates the company in a press release.
The operation thus raises the new Suez from 7.5 to about 9,000 million euros in annual turnover, and from 35,000 to more than 40,000 employees. In 2020, the former Suez achieved around 17 billion in turnover.
For le groupe, qui compte s’axer sur ses deux coeurs de métier – la gestion de l’eau et des déchets – il s’agit d’une important acquisition, après celle notamment de la más grande entreprise de gestion de déchets d’ South Africa.
Suez advances
According to Suez, “Suez R&R UK” is today the 3rd player in the field of recycling and waste recovery in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio of more than 25,000 industrial customers and local authorities.
More than the fact that this asset belonged to the historic Suez, this acquisition above all “makes sense and creates value. We are a new company that wants to grow and expand internationally,” he adds.
Source: BFM TV
