Watchdog fears Veolia-Suez might hurt competitors in UK By Reuters

(Reuters) -Britain’s antitrust watchdog stated the merger of French waste and water administration teams Veolia and Suez might reduce competitors and imply larger payments for councils within the UK.

Veolia and Suez are two of solely a small variety of suppliers in Britain which can be in a position to service the most important waste administration contracts, the Competitors and Markets Authority (CMA) stated https://www.gov.uk/authorities/information/cma-finds-veolia-suez-merger-raises-competition-concerns in a press release on Tuesday.

In its response, Veolia stated it meant to check treatments that may reassure the British regulator, prospects and rivals that the deal wouldn’t distort the market steadiness.

The UK regulator has given each corporations 5 working days to submit proposals to handle its issues. If the CMA just isn’t proud of any undertakings, it could transfer its probe to a deeper, part 2 investigation.

“Councils spend tons of of thousands and thousands of kilos on waste administration companies. Any lack of competitors on this market might result in larger costs for native authorities, leaving taxpayers to foot the invoice,” CMA chief Andrea Coscelli stated.

The French corporations, which agreed in April a merger valued at almost 13 billion euros ($14.6 billion), have already supplied extra asset gross sales to handle the competitors issues within the European Union, sources advised Reuters final month.

Veolia famous it had already obtained 14 of the 18 authorisations required worldwide.

“Veolia stays satisfied that the mix with Suez might be carried out underneath circumstances that permit wholesome competitors to be maintained within the UK market,” it stated in a press release.

The UK has the ability to order the sale or divestment of a part of the entire of a enterprise if it in the end concludes that there are competitors issues.

($1 = 0.8854 euros)