French utility company Veolia confirmed it would sell Suez’s UK waste business to Australia’s Macquarie Group for around $2.4bn, in a deal aimed at resolving antitrust concerns.
Veolia’s shares rose around 3% in early session trading – the top performers on Paris’ SBF-120 equity index.
The disposals, amounting to a total of 3.4 billion euros, would also result in a major reduction in Veolia’s debt leverage.
In December last year, Veolia and Suez won EU antitrust approval for their €13bn tie-up, after a months-long dispute including legal action and a move by Suez to ring-fence its French water business from Veolia, though that was later abandoned after the companies reached an agreement.
Read more: Reuters
