PARIS (Agefi-Dow Jones) – Veolia holds 86.22% of the capital of Suez following its takeover bid, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) announced on Friday, thus confirming the creation of a new heavyweight in water and waste management with a combined turnover of around 37 billion euros.
“This extremely satisfactory result will enable Veolia to launch on January 18 [date du règlement-livraison des titres, ndlr] the integration of the Suez teams ends up forming a world champion of ecological transformation “, commented the chief financial officer of Veolia, Claude Laruelle, during a conference call.
Veolia had made it a condition to hold more than 50% of the capital and voting rights of Suez following the takeover bid for its offer to be successful.
The AMF will publish the final results of the offer “at the end of the final verification work, no later than January 10, 2022”, the authority said.
Veolia will then request the reopening of the offer for a period which should extend from January 12 to 27 inclusive, in order to reach the 90% threshold allowing a withdrawal from the Suez listing.
“We aim for this withdrawal to be effective in the second half of February,” said the financial director.
He also indicated that Veolia would present the outlook for the combined group on March 17.
The retrocession of the “new Suez” scheduled for the end of January
Veolia launched its offensive on Suez in the summer of 2020 by negotiating the buyout of Engie’s stake in the capital of its rival. After several months of struggle, the two French utility groups had entered into a merger agreement providing for the buyout of Suez by Veolia at a price of 20.5 euros per share, coupon attached.
The agreement also provides for the creation of a “new Suez”, competitor of Veolia, whose turnover amounts to around 7 billion euros and whose assets will be sold to a consortium of investors made up of Meridiam. , GIP and CDC-CNP Assurances. This sale is scheduled for the end of January.
Veolia has obtained almost all of the necessary authorizations for this merger, including that of the European Commission in mid-December. The only thing missing is the approval of the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which last month opened an in-depth investigation into the takeover of Suez.
Veolia has six months, until June 2022, to answer the CMA’s questions, in particular by proposing asset disposals. Activities in the United Kingdom represent around 2% of the combined group’s turnover, said Claude Laruelle.
-François Schott and Valérie Venck, Agefi-Dow Jones; 01 41 27 17 92; [email protected] ed: ECH-JEB
Agefi-Dow Jones The financial newswire
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January 07, 2022 13:56 ET (18:56 GMT)