French utility Veolia sells €2.4 billion worth of Suez UK assets to Macquarie

French utility Veolia said it would sell Suez’s UK waste recycling business to Australia‘s Macquarie Group Ltd for around €2.4 billion in a deal to address antitrust concerns.

Veolia chief executive Estelle Brachlanoff said that following the deal, Veolia will remain a major player in the waste sector in the United Kingdom and in the environmental services market in a region that remains strategic for the group.

Veolia has previously said it is offering to sell its former competitor, Suez’s UK waste business after the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) objected to the Veolia-Suez merger.

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“The disposal of Suez’s UK waste business addresses the main concerns of the UK competition authority,” Veolia said in its statement.

In December last year, Veolia and Suez received EU antitrust approval for a €13 billion pool after a months-long dispute, including a lawsuit and Suez’s attempt to insulate its French water business from Veolia, although this was later abandoned after the companies reached an agreement.

The deal closed on January 7, with Veolia controlling an 86% stake in Suez.

To allay European Commission concerns about competition, the companies then spun off Suez’s French water and waste operations and some international assets into a new entity called New Suez.