Officially, Veolia will not buy Suez until the end of 2021, but the two groups are working hard to prepare for this deadline. Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia, thus unveiled, Wednesday, July 28, what place would be given to high-ranking officers of his competitor in his staff.
“From the closing date of the merger”, the executive committee of the world leader in water and waste will include a quarter of ex-Suez, i.e. four members out of sixteen: Isabelle Calvez (future director of human resources), Sébastien Daziano (strategy and innovation), Azad Kibarian ( Italy, Africa and the Middle East) and Angel Simon (Iberia and Latin America zone).
There were even almost five of them. Veolia, in fact, was in discussions until the last moment to welcome Ana Giros, deputy general manager of Suez, responsible in particular for Asia and major industrial accounts. The Spaniard, however, was also in the running for the head of the new Suez, deprived of 60% of its activities, taken over by Veolia.
Bitter struggle
Finally, the Meridiam and GIP funds as well as the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, future shareholders of the French number two in the shrinking environment, convinced her to stay on to be part of the management, alongside Maximilien Pellegrini, Deputy CEO. Eau France at Suez. However, after much procrastination, general management will be entrusted to a person recruited from outside the company, as revealed himself, in an internal message, Bertrand Camus, the current general manager.
Neither the stock market battle nor the health crisis prevented Suez and Veolia from experiencing strong growth in their activity between January and June compared to 2020
After nine months of fierce struggle against Veolia, which ended on May 14 with the signing of a merger agreement, Mr. Camus had let it be known that he did not intend to stay at Suez or join Veolia. The consortium of shareholders had mandated Spencer Stuart to look for a successor. Within the company, the candidacies of Jean-Marc Boursier, at the head of Suez France, and Diane Galbe, director of strategy, right-hand man of Mr. Camus in the defense against Veolia, had been rejected. For the rest, according to our information, Laurent Guillot, unsuccessful candidate for the general management of Engie, who has just left the financial management of Saint-Gobain, seems well placed. Sylvie Jéhanno, CEO of Dalkia, would also be in the running according to The letter a.
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