Veolia has decided to separate from its subsidiary specializing in the construction and rehabilitation of water networks, SADE-CGTH. Announced on November 27, 2023, the sale of all of its shares to one of its direct competitors, NGE, an independent public works group, took place on Friday March 1, according to our information.
“Construction activities are no longer part of the group’s core business, which chose to focus on service businesses a few years ago”explains Veolia to World. In November 2023, its general director, Estelle Brachlianoff, emphasized that the group was “very satisfied with this transaction”, which was carried out “under very good conditions, which will allow Veolia to strengthen its investment capacity in its strategic activities”. The press release specified that the SADE-CGTH company had been valued at 260 million euros.
For Veolia, NGE, which includes underground pipelines and networks among its specialties, is “a recognized industrialist in the sector”. It has a “robust project” and of “investment capacities which support SADE’s development plan and guarantee the maintenance of the entity and social statuses”the group further specifies.
The 6,900 employees of SADE will keep their name, their autonomy and their entity, but will leave the fold of the CAC 40 giant, to join the 16,000 employees of NGE. On February 8, the operation received the favorable opinion of the majority of the central social and economic committee (CSEC) of SADE (eleven votes for, four against, one abstention).
Only the CGT (minority) expressed its concern about the vagueness surrounding this transfer. Starting with the date on which it was to take place – first planned for the end of March, it was then announced, during the CSEC, for Thursday February 29.
“We don’t know where we’re going”
However, on the evening of Wednesday February 28, employees and SADE management said they did not know the exact date of Veolia’s exit, this choice being “at the initiative of the seller”. According to our information, the sale was finally confirmed to SADE-CGTH employees by a press release late Thursday. Effective since midnight March 1, the announcement must be made official on Monday March 4.
A few days before the change of hands, around fifty striking employees demonstrated in front of the SADE headquarters on Monday February 26, at the call of the CGT, to obtain “written guarantees”. “We want commitments to the fact that there will be no merger or restructuring, no workforce reduction, in the long termthen indicated Lyes Chouai, CGT central delegate at SADE. Some of the teams do exactly the same jobs. What will happen if there are duplicates? How can we be sure that we will not force SADE teams to be mobile? »
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