The sale, which was announced on Monday (30 November), was completed after receiving merger control approval from the European Commission.
It comes as “exclusive negotiations” between the two companies were also separately announced in September for the sale of Suez Recycling & Recovery operations in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany and Poland (see letsrecycle.com story).
This comes amid continued interest from Veolia to acquire its French rivals for £10.09 billion.
Future
Suez said that the transaction for its Swedish operations enables “a solid future for the business and its employees within PreZero”.
It added that it “benefits from a leading position in Sweden”, with a presence throughout the recycling and recovery value chain, from collection for municipalities and industrial & commercial clients, to sorting and treatment.
The business transferred to PreZero operates a network of 50 sites in the country, employs close to 1,100 people and generated SEK 2.7bn (£226m) in sales last year, the company added.
Suez added that the sale is part of its asset rotation plan deployed in the framework of Suez 2030 strategy, to focus on “differentiating, innovative and high value-added businesses”.
J.P. Morgan and Rothschild & Co acted as financial advisor, while Baker McKenzie acted as legal advisor to Suez.
PreZero
PreZero, the environmental services division of Europe’s largest retailer Schwarz Group, owns the Lidl and Kaufland brands.
It describes itself as a “recycling solutions” company, and has operations in Europe and the US, employing nearly 4,000 people.
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