Veolia Agrees to Sell Suez's UK Waste Business to Macquarie for $2.4 Billion -- Update

   By Ed Frankl and Cristina Roca 
 

Veolia Environnement SA said Monday that it will sell Suez's U.K. waste business to Macquarie Group Ltd. in a 2.4 billion-euro ($2.44 billion) deal.

The French utility said in June it would sell the business to satisfy the U.K.'s antitrust watchdog--the Competition and Markets Authority--which had expressed concerns over the harming of competition in the supply of water- and waste-management services in the country.

The sale proceeds represent around 17 times 2021 normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, Veolia said.

The deal brings antitrust divestments related to Veolia's takeover of Suez to around EUR3.4 billion.

The new, standalone Suez--housing a number of Suez businesses that were sold to satisfy the EU's competition concerns on the Veolia-Suez merger--said Monday that it will study the Veolia-Macquarie deal and decide whether to exercise its right of first refusal over the U.K. waste business.

"Upon receipt of the notification by Veolia, Suez will have the right within a 30 business days period to acquire those assets from Veolia with terms and conditions equivalent to the ones proposed by Macquarie," it said.

The new Suez entity is owned by a consortium of investors composed of Meridiam, GIP, Caisse des Depots et Consignations and CNP Assurances.

Write to Ed Frankl at [e-mail] and Cristina Roca

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 08, 2022 11:46 ET (15:46 GMT)

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