SUEZ
Encyclopedia
Suez S.A. was a leading French
-based multinational corporation
headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris
, 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 telecommunication
s 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
. The water and waste assets of Suez were spun off
into a separate publicly-traded company, Suez Environnement
.
(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.
announced the merger of Suez and Gaz de France
, which would make the world's largest liquefied natural gas
company. 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."
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. 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 Distrigas
to the Italian company Eni
for €2.7 billion. On 22 July 2008 the group GDF Suez
, a company of €74 billion of annual turnover, was officially created.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-based multinational corporation
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, with operations primarily in water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
, electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
supply, and waste management
Waste management
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...
. 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
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
and telecommunication
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s assets, but has since divested
Divestment
In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for either financial or ethical objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm...
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
Public utility
A public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
company Gaz de France
Gaz de France
Gaz de France was a French company which produced, transported and sold natural gas around the world, especially in France, its main market. The company was also particularly active in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries. Through its part-owned Belgian subsidiary SPE...
on 22 July 2008 to form GDF Suez
GDF Suez
GDF Suez S.A. is a French multinational energy company which operates in the fields of electricity generation and distribution, natural gas and renewable energy. The world's largest utility after taking control of Britain's International Power, the company was initially formed by the merger of Gaz...
. The water and waste assets of Suez were spun off
Spin out
A spin-out, also known as a spin-off or a starburst, refers to a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" sections of itself as a separate business....
into a separate publicly-traded company, Suez Environnement
Suez Environnement
Suez Environnement S.A. is a French-based utility company which operates largely in the water treatment and waste management sectors. Formerly an operating division of Suez, the company was spun out as a stand-alone entity as part of the merger to form GDF Suez on 22 July 2008. GDF Suez remains...
.
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 NetherlandsWilliam I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
(see Société Générale de Belgique
Société Générale de Belgique
The Société Générale de Belgique was one of the largest companies that ever existed in Belgium. It was founded in 1822 by William I, and existed until 2003, when its then sole shareholder, Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, merged it with Tractebel to form Suez-Tractebel.-History:As part of the terms of the...
). 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
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
in the mid-19th century.
Merger with Gaz de France
On February 25, 2006, French Prime minister Dominique de VillepinDominique de Villepin
Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007....
announced the merger of Suez and Gaz de France
Gaz de France
Gaz de France was a French company which produced, transported and sold natural gas around the world, especially in France, its main market. The company was also particularly active in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries. Through its part-owned Belgian subsidiary SPE...
, which would make the world's largest liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas or LNG is natural gas that has been converted temporarily to liquid form for ease of storage or transport....
company. The revenue
Revenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
of GDF was around 22.4 billion euros in 2005, compared to 41.5 billion for Suez. The CGT trade-union
Confédération générale du travail
The General Confederation of Labour is a national trade union center, the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions.It is the largest in terms of votes , and second largest in terms of membership numbers.Its membership decreased to 650,000 members in 1995-96 The General...
called the merger a "disguised privatization."
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. As a consequence of the conditions posed by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
with regards to allowing the merger, on 29 May 2008 Suez sold its Belgian gas supplier Distrigas
Distrigas
Distrigas is a natural gas company based in Belgium. It is a subsidiary of the Italian energy company Eni. In addition to Belgium, the company operates also in France, the Netherlands and Germany.-History:...
to the Italian company Eni
Eni
Eni S.p.A. is an Italian multinational oil and gas company, present in 70 countries, and currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 87.7 billion euros , as of July 24, 2008...
for €2.7 billion. On 22 July 2008 the group GDF Suez
GDF Suez
GDF Suez S.A. is a French multinational energy company which operates in the fields of electricity generation and distribution, natural gas and renewable energy. The world's largest utility after taking control of Britain's International Power, the company was initially formed by the merger of Gaz...
, a company of €74 billion of annual turnover, was officially created.
Now part of GDF Suez
- Suez Energy International – energy
- ElectrabelElectrabelElectrabel is a Belgium-based energy corporation. It is a subsidiary of GDF Suez.-History:Electrabel was established in 1905. Its actual name originates from 1990, after the regrouping of the companies Intercom, Ebes and Unerg....
– electricity in Europe (first in Belgium) - FluxysFluxysFluxys is a Belgium-based company, mainly acting as a natural gas operator. In 2004, it employed around 850 people and its infrastructure comprised about 3,700 km of pipelines and a terminal in Zeebrugge, Belgium...
– high pressure gas grid operator in Belgium - Tractebel Engineering – international engineering consultancy
- Cofely – building services/facilities management
Now part of Suez Environnement
- SitaSita (waste management)SITA is the main brand representing Suez Environnement's waste subsidiaries in Europe, North America, the Asia Pacific zone and Australia....
— waste management - Suez Environment — water and waste
- Degremont — Water & WasteWater treatment engineering http://www.degremont.com
- United WaterUnited WaterUnited Water Resources, founded as Hackensack Water Company in 1869, has grown into one of the United States's largest water services companies. It is headquartered in Harrington Park, New Jersey. The company owns and operates water and wastewater utilities and also has contracts to operate...
— water in the United States, also AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Australia - Grupo AgbarGrupo AgbarAgbar is a Spanish company dedicated to services, distribution or treatment of water. The company was founded in 1867 in Liège as Compagnie des Eaux de Barcelone by an investor from France and Catalonia . The group is present in almost all the continents as North America, South America, Asia and...
— water and waste
External links
- Suez (Archive)
- GDF Suez website
- Suez Environnement website
- Yahoo! – Suez Environnement Company Profile
- Suez stock chart by GStockGstockGStock is a distributed computing project formed in 2006 for stock market analysis. It is enabled by users that volunteer to download and run a software client and donate some idle capacity of their computer processing unit . The gathered computing power is used to search for an investment strategy...
- Tractebel website
- Suez Energy Summary and analysis
- Suez group websites
- Anti-Coal Plant Activists Get Death Threats, Chile