Suez, Suez Environnement and GDF Suez

By Richard Girard, Executive Director and Erin Callary, Researcher of the Polaris Institute (Reviewed by Satoko Kishimoto, Coordinator of the Water Justice Project of the Transnational Institute (TNI).) In 1997, the merger of French corporations Compagnie Financière de Suez and Lyonnaise des Eaux created the energy, waste and water infrastructure company Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux. In 2008, after years of mergers, acquisitions and corporate realignment, the company – which by then was known simply as ‘Suez’ – was split into two separate entities: GDF SUEZ and Suez Environnement. This split was the result of Suez’s decision to merge with Gaz de France to create the energy multinational GDF Suez. For the 2008 merger to take place, one of the conditions was that Suez’s water and waste division, Suez Environnement, would have to become a separate publicly traded company, in which GDF Suez would maintain 35 % of the company’s shares. This chapter will focus on the involvement of Suez Environnement and its predecessor Suez in water privatization and will briefly explore the corruption allegations that surrounded the merger between Gaz de France and Suez. See full article in "Peoples Sovereignty vs. Impunity Inc.: Counterpower and Struggles for Justice”, part of an 8-article series compiled by the Transnational Institute (TNI) and Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (ODG) -- Download Full PDF