Deal: Trilegal advised and represented Veolia Environnement in successfully obtaining approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in relation to its proposed acquisition of shares and voting rights in Suez

Trilegal advised Veolia Environnement S.A. (Veolia) on the Indian competition law aspects of its proposed acquisition of stake in Suez S.A. (Suez) at a price of EUR 20.50 per Suez share, which values Suez at approximately EUR 12.8 billion.

The transaction approved by the CCI involves (a) the acquisition of stake in Suez by Veolia at a price of EUR 20.50 per Suez share, and (b) the acquisition of stake in a new Suez (New Suez) by a consortium of investors, comprising Meridiam, Global Infrastructure Management (GIP) & La Caisse des dépôts et consignations (CDC) & CNP Assurances (Consortium) for an enterprise value of EUR 10.4 billion.

The proposed transaction enables Veolia to acquire the strategic assets needed to pursue its goal of building a global champion in ecological transformation while guaranteeing a coherent and sustainable industrial and social footprint for New Suez.

Veolia is a listed company headquartered in France and listed on the Euronext Stock Exchange in Paris. Veolia operates through three business lines worldwide for (i) water management, (ii) waste management, and (iii) energy solutions and sources.

Suez is a listed company headquartered in France and listed on the Euronext Stock Exchange in Paris. Currently, Suez is deployed in three business segments worldwide: (i) Water, (ii) Recycling and Recovery, and (iii) Environmental Tech & Solutions.

The Trilegal competition team representing Veolia was led by Nisha Kaur Uberoi, Partner & National Head – Competition Law, and Gautam Chawla, Partner; assisted by Shravani Shekhar, Counsel; Harshita Singh Parmar, Shambhvi Sinha and Rahat Dhawan, Senior Associates; and Aditi Khemani, Parumita Pal, Samriddha Gooptu, and Pramothesh Mukherjee, Associates. For corporate law aspects, Veolia was represented by Vaibhav Kothari, Partner – Corporate Practice.

Hogan Lovells and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton acted as international legal counsel to Veolia on this deal.

Bredin Prat and Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier acted as international legal counsel to Suez on the deal. Linklaters LLP, BDGS Associés, and Cot Law acted as international legal counsel to the Consortium on the deal.