Suez-GDF merger decision today
Monday, 3 September 2007
PARIS, Sept 2 (AFP): French energy group Suez and state-owned Gaz de France will announce tomorrow (Monday) a decision on whether to merge into what would be one of Europe's biggest power companies, the French presidency said Saturday.
"The two companies will make an announcement Monday whether to merge or not," the secretary general of the French presidency Claude Gueant told the news agency.
Suez's board will meet on Sunday to ratify the long-delayed merger, Le Parisien daily said Saturday.
The board of Suez "could meet on Sunday evening if a deal is concluded" between Suez and the French presidency, a source close to the proceedings told the news agency. The GDF board is also expected to meet Sunday.
After holding telephone talks Saturday with a presidential adviser, the Force Ouvriere union's energy branch issued a statement saying the deal would leave the state with a 34-per cent stake.
"It is clearly a privatisation because the state-owned stake is less than 50 per cent," the statement said.
President Nicolas Sarkozy was meanwhile Saturday to hold talks in Versailles with the leaders of the industry's main labour union, the CGT, in an apparent bid to smooth the way to a deal.
The Communist-backed CGT, France's biggest union, had repeated its "complete hostility" to the plan in a statement Friday ahead of the meeting with Sarkozy.
"The two companies will make an announcement Monday whether to merge or not," the secretary general of the French presidency Claude Gueant told the news agency.
Suez's board will meet on Sunday to ratify the long-delayed merger, Le Parisien daily said Saturday.
The board of Suez "could meet on Sunday evening if a deal is concluded" between Suez and the French presidency, a source close to the proceedings told the news agency. The GDF board is also expected to meet Sunday.
After holding telephone talks Saturday with a presidential adviser, the Force Ouvriere union's energy branch issued a statement saying the deal would leave the state with a 34-per cent stake.
"It is clearly a privatisation because the state-owned stake is less than 50 per cent," the statement said.
President Nicolas Sarkozy was meanwhile Saturday to hold talks in Versailles with the leaders of the industry's main labour union, the CGT, in an apparent bid to smooth the way to a deal.
The Communist-backed CGT, France's biggest union, had repeated its "complete hostility" to the plan in a statement Friday ahead of the meeting with Sarkozy.