Veolia to sell Suez UK waste business to Macquarie for €2.4bn

French utility Veolia has agreed to sell Suez’s UK waste business to Australia’s Macquarie for around €2.4bn to address the concerns of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.

Veolia said in a statement that the sale "addresses the main concerns" of the CMA.

"After the disposal of the remedies agreed with the European Commission and the signature of the agreement with Macquarie Asset Management, almost all of the antitrust divestitures will have been finalised less than a year after the acquisition of Suez and on the basis of an average multiple of 15x 2021 EBITDA, confirming the very high attractiveness of the assets acquired in connection with the combination with Suez," it said.

Veolia - which agreed to buy Suez last year in a €13bn deal - had already announced in June that it would sell the business after the CMA said its acquisition of Suez could reduce competition in the sector and push up prices.

Veolia chief executive Estelle Brachlianoff said on Monday: "We are very satisfied with this transaction, which is being carried out under excellent conditions that once again demonstrate the attractiveness of the environmental services business and the relevance of our proposal for remedies to the CMA.

"It will create significant value and strengthen our investment capacity in strategic markets. The valuation of these assets reflects both the initial price and the synergies expected from the combination, in line with all of the disposals carried out in the frame of the antitrust clearances, which are higher than the acquisition price of Suez."