Suez Is First Hostile Bid for French Target in Five Years
- Vivendi’s purchase of Gameloft in 2016 was last such deal
- Finance minister says market regulator to review Veolia bid
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Veolia Environnement SA’s hostile takeover offer for water utility Suez SA is the first such attempt in five years in France, a country where the political establishment prefers consensual deals.
The last hostile bid was Vivendi SA’s successful 479-million-euro ($576 million) offer in 2016 for mobile-games company Gameloft SE, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Big hostile deals are rarer still: One has to go back to 2007 to find one of more than 1 billion euros, the failed effort by Spanish builder Sacyr SA to acquire Eiffage SA.