On Feb. 7, Veolia issued a release stating it had filed a tender offer for the entire share capital of rival Suez, at a price of 18 euros per share, in order to complete the merger between the two environmental services groups. The move is the latest push from Veolia in its attempts at a hostile takeover of its competitor.
Veolia formally acquired 29.9 percent of Suez’ shares in October 2020, making it the company’s largest shareholder. The proposal to acquire these shares was originally made on Aug. 30, 2020. Since that time, Veolia says Suez has repeatedly requested to be presented with a formal purchase offer, without responding to Veolia’s offer sent Jan. 7, 2021.
By launching the offer to acquire Suez’ remaining shares directly to Suez’ shareholders, Veolia made its intentions clear that it was done trying to work with the company’s board, which has stonewalled Veolia’s offers for months, the company says.
Reuters reported that a spokesman for Suez said that moving ahead with the offer “would be unacceptable from an ethical and moral point of view.”
“This move shows that there was never any intention of trying to proceed in a friendly manner,” the spokesman continued.
In September 2020, Suez’ board of directors said it had reviewed the takeover bid being made by Veolia and labeled it a “hostile approach” that is “against the best interests of Suez and all its stakeholders, and in particular its shareholders, its employees and its clients.”
The company went on to say that its board concluded that “the overall structure of the transaction contemplated by Veolia is questionable and exposes Suez and its shareholders to a long period of disruption for the group, with a risk of a takeover on an unacceptable basis.” Adds Suez, “Veolia’s takeover project comes with major antitrust and regulatory issues in France and abroad.”
Legal battles between the companies have stretched on for months as Veolia has continued to pursue avenues to acquire Suez.
In a release, Veolia says that Suez CEO Bertrand Camus met with Veolia CEO Antoine Frérot on Feb. 5, but that Camus reiterated the company’s position that it intended to compete with Veolia rather than merge with the company.
“The board of directors of Veolia has considered that the formal filing of a tender offer was the only decision likely to respond both to the repeated requests of Suez's management and to provide employees, customers and shareholders of both groups with an unambiguous, transparent and definitive clarification,” Veolia stated regarding the tender offer.
On Feb. 11, Paris’ Court of Appeals upheld the validity of Veolia’s efforts to acquire Suez, which was in keeping with a string of favorable rulings for the company.