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Veolia reiterates intention to buy Suez for £10.09bn

Veolia says it intends to make a public takeover bid for Suez at a price of €18 per share as soon as its rival’s board of directors expresses opinions in favour of the proposal.

The offer values the whole of Suez at around €11.2 billion (£10.09 billion).

Veolia and Renault RCV
Veolia says it intends to make a public takeover bid for Suez at a price of €18 per share

In a statement issued yesterday, November 3, Veolia says it has made several attempts to “renew dialogue” with Suez, the company’s chairman and its board of directors since the acquisition of Engie’s shares. Suez has turned down all its approaches, Veolia says.

Antoine Frérot, Veolia’s chairman and chief executive officer, said: “We are convinced that we will manage to persuade the board of directors of Suez, either in its current form or, failing that, after a general meeting, of the relevance of our proposal.

“For this reason, we wish to further clarify our timetable and to undertake to make our bid as soon as the board of directors issues a favourable opinion.

“In summary: the only thing preventing all Suez shareholders from benefiting from a public takeover bid at €18 per share is the opposition from the board of directors of Suez in its current form.”

In an attempt to block the takeover Suez created a foundation based in Holland in September to house its French water business. Veolia says its bid is also contingent on Suez’s board of directors deactivating the ‘inalienability mechanism’ of its French water business, its subsidiaries and its assets.

Takeover

Following Veolia’s acquisition of a 29.9% stake in Suez from Engie on 5 October, the former company announced its intention to make a voluntary public takeover bid for the balance of Suez’s shares (see letsrecycle.com story). Veolia said it anticipated a full merger within 12 to 18 months, subject to regulatory clearances.

However, in a statement released following Veolia’s acquisition of Engie’s stake, the board of directors at Suez continued to describe the takeover bid as “hostile”.

Veolia said yesterday that the provisions of the notice of intention it published on 5 October will remain applicable until the date on which a bid is made. These provisions include proposed bid price adjustment clauses.

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