The battle between the two flagships of water and waste management, Veolia and Suez, should soon come to an end.

While Engie approved the sale of its stake in Suez to Veolia against the advice of the state, the latter found itself weakened.

A real "snub", according to the head of the economy of Europe 1, Emmanuel Duteil. 

DECRYPTION

The epilogue of the Veolia-Suez merger is approaching.

Nothing stands in the way of Veolia, the world's number 1 in water and waste, swallowing number 2, Suez.

The main shareholder of Suez, Engie formerly Gaz de France, validated the sale to Veolia on Monday evening, against the advice of state representatives.

An unprecedented fact in a company of this size and importance.

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Engie does as he pleases

It is an almost historical snub for the State which is rather used, even with small participations, to impose its views.

Recently, he was able to block the merger between Renault and Fiat, and is almost co-director of Air France.

But Monday evening, despite a participation of almost 24% of the state, the management of Engie did as it pleases.

Bercy tried everything: Engie's CFDT administrators were reportedly called in but ultimately did not vote against the project.

This offer was difficult to reject anyway.

This was the only offer and even Bercy recognizes that the price paid is good.

Tuesday morning, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire called on Veolia and Suez to resume discussions to create a joint project.

According to him, "an amicable agreement was possible, we have been working on it for days. We were a few centimeters from an agreement. We encountered intransigence from some and haste from others", he regretted. .

The staffs of the two groups speak rather of "kilometers" and the discussions between the two enemies are likely to be long and tense.