Veolia Must Sell Three U.K. Businesses Due to Competition Issues

By Sarah Sloat

Veolia Environnement SA must sell three of its businesses in the U.K. because of competition concerns related to its merger with Suez, the U.K. antitrust watchdog said Thursday following an investigation.

The Competition and Markets Authority decided that French utility Veolia must sell large parts of the merged business, including Suez's U.K. waste-management services businesses; Suez's U.K. industrial water operation and maintenance services business; and Veolia's European mobile water services business. These comprise almost all of the overlap between Veolia's and Suez's competing U.K. operations, CMA said.

The decision is aimed at protecting councils and businesses from likely higher prices and lower-quality services, according to the CMA.

Prior to the merger, Veolia and Suez were two of the largest suppliers of waste-management services in the U.K.

Earlier this month, Veolia said it would sell Suez's U.K. waste business to Macquarie Group Ltd. for about $2.4 billion. It received approval for its takeover of Suez from the European Commission in late last year.

Write to Sarah Sloat at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 25, 2022 02:41 ET (06:41 GMT)

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