Brussels, 06/08/2009 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has cleared the proposed purchase by Lyonnaise des Eaux ("LDE") of shares held by Veolia Eau-Compagnie Générale des Eaux ("Veolia Eau") in six subsidiaries owned jointly with Veolia Eau. The two companies decided to sell each other their holdings in nine joint subsidiaries which they control together. At the end of the proposed operation, LDE will take sole control of six of these companies: Société des Eaux du Nord, Société d'Exploitation du Réseau d'Assainissement de Marseille, Société Provençale des Eaux, Société des Eaux de Versailles et de Saint-Cloud, Société Martiniquaise des Eaux, and Société Guyanaise des Eaux. The purchase of the other three joint subsidiaries by Veolia Eau was approved by the Commission on 30 July 2009 (see EUROPE 9953).
The companies of which LDE plans to acquire sole control are active in water supply and treatment in France. LDE is a subsidiary of the GDF Suez group, which is active throughout the water cycle, from the production of drinking water to the treatment of waste water. It also provides customer management services and carries out work on installations and supply networks. The Commission's investigations indicated that the proposed operation would have no detrimental effect on competition in the markets concerned, given the limited market shares of the companies to be acquired and the control over their activity that LDE already exercised jointly with Veolia Eau. (A.B./transl.rt)