Veolia Pledges Sweetened Suez Stake Offer by Sept. 30 Deadline
Veolia CEO Calls for Decision on Suez Stake, Not Extension
(Bloomberg) -- Veolia Environnement SA Chief Executive Officer Antoine Frerot confirmed he would deliver a sweetened bid to Engie SA for most of its shares in French waste and water group Suez SA ahead of a Wednesday deadline, rejecting any extension.
Frerot will communicate the improved offer for the 29.9% stake “at the right moment” and before the existing proposal of 15.50 euros ($18.03) a share runs out at the end of the month, he told Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper in an interview.
“We’ll know on Sept. 30 whether we abandon the planned merger with Suez or indeed whether we continue without Engie’s shares,” he said. “Everything is possible.”
As well as raising the price, the new offer will include written clarifications on employment guarantees, Frerot told the paper, adding that Veolia’s pledge to maintain 100% of jobs and social benefits made the project “unrivaled.”
Veolia wants eventually to take over all of its rival Suez to create a global giant in environmental services. The three companies have been at loggerheads since an initial 2.9 billion-euro bid that Engie called too low and Suez described as hostile.
Engie has asked Veolia to come back with a better deal and said it’s open to other offers. Suez, meanwhile, has been working on alternative proposals since rebuffing the plan, although nothing has been forthcoming. It said last week it needed a few more weeks to put together an offer involving a pool of investors.
Engie Board to Meet Wednesday to Discuss Suez, Les Echos Says
Government Stake
Frerot opposes any delay and said he skipped a meeting organized at the French Finance Ministry on Saturday to discuss Suez because he understood it to be a negotiation on extending deadlines. The government has a 24% stake in Engie.
“We don’t need an extension, we need a decision,” Frerot said in the interview with the newspaper.
He added that Veolia’s legal experts had found a way around Suez’s move to make its French water assets non-transferable for the next four years, although he declined to give details.
Veolia had announced that French investment fund Meridiam would buy that business, potentially heading off antitrust concerns.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.