Veolia Buys CDPQ's Stake in WTS - Achieves Full Ownership

Veolia has signed an agreement with CDPQ for the acquisition of its 30% stake in Veolia’s subsidiary Water Technologies and Solutions (“WTS”), allowing Veolia to achieve full ownership of WTS, enabling it to unlock more value potential, simplify further its structure and extract additional run-rate cost synergies of ~€90m.

This acquisition is a logical step in the deployment of Veolia’s GreenUp strategic roadmap, with an efficient capital allocation to strengthen the Group’s anchoring in Water technologies activities and in the United States, both identified as priority growth “boosters”.

The acquisition of CDPQ’s minority interests will further strengthen Veolia's unique positioning as a global leader in Water Technologies. The Group is perfectly positioned to take advantage of the growing demand for innovative water treatment technologies and solutions, fueled by macro-trends such as water scarcity, adaptation to climate change, health concerns and the development of strategic industries such as semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and data centers.

The acquisition of the remaining 30% of Veolia’s subsidiary WTS will allow full operational control, enabling it to enhance operational performance and seize all opportunities for development and innovation through a complete integration process. Following the acquisition, the Group will be able to unlock additional ~€90m of run-rate cost synergies by 2027. Those synergies are already well-identified and benefit from a very low execution risk, given the deep and intimate knowledge of the asset and Veolia’s proven track record in synergies extraction. The acquisition is expected to be accretive from 2026 and will contribute to improve Group ROCE.

The purchase price for the acquisition will be $1.75bn (~€1.5bn), corresponding to ~11x EV/post-synergies 2025e EBITDA. Post-transaction, Veolia will still maintain headroom compared to its Net Debt / EBITDA target of 3x, allowing the Group to retain strategic flexibility to continue to deploy its GreenUp strategic plan.

Veolia confirms all 2025 guidance and GreenUp targets previously communicated both at Group level and at the Water Technologies level, and now aims to achieve an EBITDA CAGR of at least

+10%(1) over the 2023-2027 period for its Water Technologies division.

"This acquisition marks a pivotal step in unlocking the full value potential of Water Technologies, a growth booster identified as a priority in our GreenUp strategic plan, and a segment where we are already a market leader. Full ownership will enable us to accelerate growth, enhance operational efficiency and synergies as well as deepen the alignment with strategic priorities. This move is especially crucial given the urgent and rapidly evolving needs of the market, allowing us to respond faster and more effectively to emerging opportunities and challenges," said Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia’s Chief Executive Officer.

"We are proud of WTS’ achievements since our investment in 2017, as it has grown into a global market leader in water technologies. Through our partnership, we helped strengthen the company’s foundations and position it for sustained growth and long-term value creation. We are grateful for the close collaboration with the management teams at WTS and Veolia, and we wish them every success in this next chapter," said Albrecht von Alvensleben, Managing Director, Head of Private Equity Europe at CDPQ.