Suez (company)

Infobox Defunct company
company_name = Suez
company_
foundation = 1858
defunct = 22 July 2008
fate = Merger with Gaz de France
successor = GDF Suez, Suez Environnement
location = Paris, France
key_people = Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman & CEO
industry = Water, waste management, energy
products = Water treatment, electricity, natural gas, waste management

Suez S.A. was a leading French-based multinational corporation, with operations primarily in water, electricity and natural gas supply, and waste management. Suez was result of a 1997 merger between the "Compagnie de Suez" and "Lyonnaise des Eaux", a leading French water company. In the early 2000s Suez also owned some media and telecommunications assets, but has since divested these. According to the "Masons Water Yearbook" 2004/5, Suez served 117.4 million people around the world. The company conducted a merger of equals with fellow utility company Gaz de France on 22 July 2008 to form GDF Suez.cite news|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aFiKMd_hki.Q&refer=europe|title=GDF Suez Shares Fall in Debut Following Merger |last=Patel|first=Tara|date=22 July 2008|work=Bloomberg|accessdate=2008-07-22] The water and waste assets of Suez were spun off into a separate publicly-traded company, Suez Environnement.

History

Suez was (and remains, through GDF Suez) one of the oldest continuously existing multinational corporations in the world, with one line of corporate history dating back to the 1822 founding of the "Algemeene Nederlandsche Maatschappij ter begunstiging van de volksvlijt" (literally: General Dutch Company for the favouring of industry) by King William I of the Netherlands (see Société Générale de Belgique). Its form prior to the GDF merger was the result of nearly two centuries of reorganisation and corporate mergers. Its most recent name comes from the involvement of one of its several founding entities - the "Compagnie universelle du canal maritime de Suez" - in building the Suez Canal in the mid-19th century.

Merger with Gaz de France

On February 25, 2006, French Prime minister Dominique de Villepin announced the merger of Suez and Gaz de France, which would make the world's largest liquefied natural gas company. [http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3234,36-745348,0.html (subscription)] The revenue of GDF was around 22.4 billion euros in 2005, compared to 41.5 billion for Suez. The CGT trade-union called the merger a "disguised privatization." [cite web|url=http://www.humanite.fr/journal/2006-02-28/2006-02-28-825123|title=GDF-Suez petits arrangements avec la vérité|publisher=humanite.fr|accessdate=2006-09-25]

On 3 September 2007, Gaz de France and Suez announced agreed terms of merger. The deal was conducted on the basis of an exchange of 21 Gaz de France shares for 22 Suez shares via the absorption of Suez by Gaz de France. The French state holds more than 35% of shares of the merged company, GDF Suez.cite news | http://www.rttnews.com/sp/todaystop.asp?item=3 | title=Suez, Gaz De France Agree To New Merger Deal | publisher=RTT News | date=2007-09-04 | accessdate=2007-09-04] As a consequence of the conditions posed by the European Commission with regards to allowing the merger, on 29 May 2008 Suez sold its Belgian gas supplier Distrigaz to the Italian company Eni for €2.7 billion. [cite news|url=http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/07/16/ap5220651.html|title=Key moments in GDF Suez combination|date=16 July 2008|work=Associated Press|publisher=Forbes|accessdate=2008-07-22] On 22 July 2008 the group GDF Suez, a company of €74 billion of annual turnover, was officially created.

Major subsidiaries

Now part of GDF Suez

* Suez Energy International — energy
* Electrabel — electricity in Europe (first in Belgium)
* ELIA — high tension electricity grid operator in Belgium (TSO)
* Fluxys — high pressure gas grid operator in Belgium
* Tractebel Engineering — International engineering consultancy
* Elyo Services — Building services / facilities management

Now part of Suez Environnement

* Sita — waste management
* Suez Environment — water and waste
* Degremont — Water & WasteWater treatment engineering [http://www.degremont.com]
* United Water — water in the United States, also Adelaide, Australia

References

External links

* [http://www.gdfsuez.com GDF Suez website]
* [http://www.suez-environnement.com Suez Environnement website]
* [http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/136/136050.html Yahoo! - Suez Environnement Company Profile]
* [http://www.gstock.com/quote/sze.html Suez stock chart] by GStock
* [http://www.egi.tractebel.com Tractebel website]
* [http://www.eisenbachconsulting.com/suezenergy.php Suez Energy Summary and analysis]