As reported by the U.S.-based Waste Business Journal (www.wastebusinessjournal.com), Veolia Environnement is considering the sale of its U.S. waste business as part of an ambitious plan to raise 5 billion Euros ($6.7 billion) from asset sales to reduce debt. Its U.S. waste business had revenues of 614 million Euros ($822 million) in 2010.
The French water and waste giant, the world's largest environmental utility in terms of revenue, says it will also exit the transport sector by selling its 50 per cent stake in Veolia Transdev (5.8 billion Euros in 2010), and plans to sell its regulated water business in the U.K (317 million Euros in 2010).
Ultimately, the company seeks to lower debt to less than 12 billion Euros by the end of 2013 from 15 billion at the end of September 2011.
As part of the divestiture, Veolia intends to withdraw from 37 of the 77 countries in which it operates.
Veolia entered the U.S. waste business in June 1999 when its predecessor company Vivendi S.A. bought Superior Services Inc., then the fourth largest U.S. waste company, for about $1 billion.
Vivendi later split its entertainment business away from its environmental services business, which it named Veolia.