Paris (AFP)

Veolia will not push back the deadline, set at September 30, for its offer to Engie to buy back its shares in Suez, its CEO Antoine Frérot told MPs on Wednesday, accusing Suez of carrying out a "scorched earth policy".

"No, I will not postpone the validity date of my offer to Engie. And I answer, yes, there is an urgent need to decide", declared Mr. Frérot.

"Why the two months which separated us from the announcement (made by Engie on its willingness to sell, editor's note), would not be sufficient to assess the offer made to them?" He explained.

"But above all, with each passing day, Suez sells a new activity, yesterday it was an activity in Sweden, the day before it was in Germany ... Of the 90,000 employees of Suez, 13,000 have been sold for a month and a half . How many will there be left over Christmas? ”He asked.

"In addition Suez announced that with the money from these sales, they would pay exceptional dividends to their shareholders, in the midst of Covid, at a time when companies are sticking together. It is therefore urgent to stop this bleeding and this scorched earth policy, "he said, during a hearing from Suez and Veolia management before the deputies.

The management of Suez stressed the need for more time to concoct a counter-offer to buy back its shares from Engie.

In a common approach, the employee shareholders of Suez and Engie, on Wednesday asked the State to "postpone" any merger with Veolia, believing that "the social interest" of the project "is far from being proven" .

Suez, a specialist in water and waste treatment, has been fighting for its independence since the end of August, since its main shareholder Engie was offered by Veolia to sell its 29.9% of shares for 2.9 billion euros.

Veolia said it was ready on Tuesday to "discuss" with Engie who asked it to improve its offer.

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