Veolia announced a provisional agreement to sell Suez's former UK recycling business to infrastructure investor Macquarie shortly after the group presented its half-year results this month, paving the way for the Veolia-Suez merger to clear its last anti-trust hurdle. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has provisionally refused to give Veolia the go-ahead to take over Suez's UK assets, citing serious concerns over a reduction in competition in the solid waste and industrial water markets if the merger were to go ahead. As GWI went to press, it is the only regulator globally not to have approved the merger. Veolia's self-described "drastic decision" to part with Suez Recycling & Recovery UK, an asset which it previously regarded as "strategic" to its merger plans, reveals the level of frustration the group's management has experienced over the CMA's investigation. The French group announced its intention to sell despite objecting to the CMA's provisional findings, and without waiting for a final verdict from the regulator. The CMA's final ruling is currently expected by early September.
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