(Update: Estelle Brachlianoff’s career within Veolia and company commentary on the new governance)
PARIS (Agefi-Dow Jones) – Following its takeover bid for Suez, the utility group Veolia unveiled on Monday a new governance structure comprising the separation of the functions of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from the 1st next july.
The directors will propose to keep Antoine Frérot as chairman of the board of directors of Veolia during the general meeting scheduled for June 15, the group said in a press release. Deputy CEO in charge of operations, Estelle Brachlianoff “will be the next CEO of Veolia and it will be proposed to the next general meeting of shareholders that she join its board of directors,” the group said.
A former student of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale des Bridges et Chaussées, Estelle Brachlianoff joined Veolia in 2005. After leading the group’s activities in France and the United Kingdom, the manager was appointed in July 2018 Deputy CEO, in charge of operations and member of the Veolia Executive Committee.
“Estelle Brachlianoff will be responsible for leading and leading Veolia, which has become, in ten years, the world champion in ecological transformation,” commented the group. “To carry out its new mission, it will be able to count on the support of a renewed executive committee and a management committee, counting among the best world experts in the water, waste and energy professions”, notice the press release.
This governance was presented when Veolia holds 86.22% of the capital and voting rights of Suez following its takeover bid, according to the final results of the offer published on Monday by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) . The offer will be reopened January 12 to 27 inclusive and Veolia irrevocably undertakes to acquire at a price of 19.85 euros per share all the securities still in circulation, ie 13.78% of Suez capital.
“A few days before the conclusion of a historic merger for Veolia, which will increase from 180,000 to 230,000 employees and whose turnover will increase from 27 to 37 billion euros, the board of directors of Veolia has decided to dissociate the functions of chairman of the board of directors from those of managing director, ”the statement added.
“Antoine Frérot had expressed his wish to end his duties as CEO, which he has held since 2009, at the end of his current term,” said Veolia. “He therefore asked the board of directors to instruct the appointments committee to carry out, with the support of a recruitment firm, an in-depth work of research into the governance most appropriate to the management of a company that is changing. scale and which continues to internationalize, “said Veolia.
-Eric Chalmet, Agefi-Dow Jones; +33 (0) 1 41 27 47 95; [email protected] ed: LBO
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January 10, 2022 12:28 ET (17:28 GMT)