Veolia agrees deal to buy German waste and recycling giant

The sale has been agreed with Sulo owners the Blackstone Group and Apax Partners and in effect means that Veolia is buying the former German Cleanaway waste management business, which had been acquired by Sulo 18 months ago (see letsrecycle.com story).

Competition


A statement from Veolia said that the acquisition remains subject to clearance by the European competition authorities, and will confirm the company as a “major operator in the European waste management sector, both for the commercial and industrial sector and local communities.”

With a sales turnover of about 1.3 billion euros (887m) in 2006, Sulo is the second largest operator of the management of waste in Germany. Sulo, said Veolia, is in particular the leader in the field of the services of collection of municipal waste and packaging under the Duales System for recovering packaging waste.

Valorisation


The purchase of Sulo will also considerably expand Veolia's recycling activities, and the French statement described the German business as “uncontested in the recycling of paper and plastic and has know-how raised in the fields of the sorting and organic valorisation. It occupies also a position of strength in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States.”

Sulo employs 7,700 workers, with 6,300 of these in Germany. After this acquisition, the total sales turnover of Veolia's previously small-scale operations in Germany will rise by more than 1,500 million euros.

Henri Proglio, Chairman and managing Director of Veolia Environment, declared: “Through this acquisition, Veolia Environment already largely present in Germany in the fields of water, energy and transport, reinforces its position while henceforth becoming a major actor in the waste management sector.”

Core strategy


Denis Gasquet, general manager of Veolia's waste operations said: “This consolidates also our position on the activities of sorting and management of the recycled materials, which are with the core of our strategy of development for the next years, and allows us to accelerate our organic growth in the markets with strong potential in Europe of the East.”