Bruno Le Maire, a minister in the Suez backwater
INVESTIGATION - The Minister of the Economy, by failing to impose the line of the State shareholder, suffered a failure in the Suez file.
By Bertille Bayart
(Le Figaro)
The battle for water has turned into a fist fight. A great mess of which it would be illusory to pretend to have been the organizer. Last Monday, the Engie group sold 29.9% of the capital of Suez to its competitor Veolia . Against the will of the Suez group. Against the advice of its own largest shareholder, the State. In Bercy, Bruno Le Maire must take his loss.
“It's a shipwreck,” comments a banker, “Bruno Le Maire comes out weakened. And the State as a shareholder with it ”. Half of the Parisian business microcosm fell on the back of the Minister of the Economy for failing to save Suez from the trap set by Veolia. The other half accuses him of having meddled in what did not concern him and of having put sticks in the wheels of Veolia. "He had only the choice between bad solutions anyway," says one expert.
"READ ALSO - Bruno Le Maire:" Suez-Veolia-Engie, that everyone take their responsibilities "
Failing to have won, to have found a compromise that would have put Suez and Veolia in agreement, Bruno Le Maire is putting panache in the defeat. Villepin comes out of this body! "It was the honor of the State" to refuse this operation under these conditions, said the former adviser to the Prime Minister of Jacques Chirac. And if it had to be done again, he "will do it again (t)". Because we "do not set an ultimatum to the Minister of the Economy", and above all, we "do not twist the arm of the State", he often repeated to his interlocutors during these weeks of negotiations .
"Veolia was well aware of this side ... whimsical, a little chivalrous, of the character", smiles a good connoisseur of the file. “ When studying the previous Renault-Fiat-Chrysler , it was obvious that he was capable of going all the way. It was an element to take into account in the tactics ”. In June 2019, Bruno Le Maire had demanded a deadline to examine the marriage of the two manufacturers, refusing the part of hostility towards his Japanese partner Nissan that Renault's tactics assumed. The State shareholder of Losange (15% of the capital) had thus torpedoed the project of the French group. Road roller strategy
Is it for this reason that Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia, first secured the support of the Prime Minister? When he revealed his project, on the evening of Sunday, August 30, it is in any case the prior information from Matignon that is put forward in the communication of the giant of water and waste. An originality which does not escape the place of Paris. “When we are preparing a merger-acquisition operation, we talk about it at the Élysée and Bercy. The first line is there. Matignon is on principle, and if we have the time, ”explains an investment banker. Jean Castex's attachment to the territories is one element of the explanation: Veolia had to deal from the outset with the concerns that would certainly arise among local elected officials, who are primarily interested in the future of their service providers.
"READ ALSO - Antoine Frérot (Veolia):" We can reach an agreement with Suez "
Bruno Le Maire, he had met Antoine Frérot on Friday 28. At the Élysée, it is Secretary General Alexis Kohler who is in the loop. The State is seduced by the check that Veolia plans to sign to Engie. It would be - finally! - a clarification of the strategy of the energy group whose hesitation vis-à-vis Suez, the former Lyonnaise des Eaux, gave rise in 2018 to the worst arbitration: the status quo. And Antoine Frérot promises a "super world champion" to France. He prevents the withdrawal of Engie from opening the door to Suez to "funds or investors not very presentable", implying not French, as a senior official said.
On September 3, during the presentation of the recovery plan, Jean Castex evokes an operation "which makes sense". In business grammar, on the measurement scale between benevolent neutrality and overt support, these words are powerful. Result: everyone hears the “yes” of the state, but not the “ifs”. The conditions - employment, competition… - set by the State are hardly raised. Besides, the Prime Minister does not insist on the necessary dialogue between the two companies. This point, raised in August in a note from the State Participation Agency and underlined by Bruno Le Maire who is concerned about a hostile operation between two French industrialists, takes a back seat. For a time.
At Suez, the president, Philippe Varin , and the managing director, Bertrand Camus , are stunned by the offensive of Veolia, despite all the warning signs. Stunned too. Veolia seems to have already crisscrossed the field. The CEO of the Caisse des Dépôts, Éric Lombard, welcomes the idea of a new world champion. The insurer CNP, controlled by the Post Office, is enlisted by the Meridiam fund, an ally of Veolia to take over the “water” assets in France, which will be resold for competition reasons. The Minister of Labor, Élisabeth Borne , whose word is still controlled, publicly reassures those who are worried about employment. The associations of elected officials, in particular the powerful Association of Mayors of France of François Baroin, are absent subscribers. Antoine Frérot can carry out his steamroller strategy and defend a project which has, in his eyes, "the force of the obvious". “It's the business of his life. It looks like he has revenge to take, ”comments a person close to the case. "In the middle of the shooting range"
However, the beam works, as Édouard Philippe would have said. The more days go by, the more this forced marriage in Suez poses a political problem. Can the State, as a shareholder of Engie, guarantee it? The deputies, under the leadership of Roland Lescure and Eric Woerth, launch hearings. The strange coalition of circumstances that is forming to defend Suez, from Henri Proglio (ex-CEO of Veolia and EDF) to Jean-Louis Borloo, including the former Suez (Jean-Louis Chaussade, received at the Élysée ), and Engie (Gérard Mestrallet), agitates all the networks that Veolia has not yet mobilized. Within the executive, some are convinced, like Antoine Frérot, that time will only worsen the conflict. But as a shareholder, the government cannot trample on the values of responsible capitalism that it has carried high with the Pacte law. The position of the state becomes this: we must negotiate. And it is Bruno Le Maire who is on the front line, "in the middle of the shooting range", describes a person close to the file.
»READ ALSO - Engie, Suez, Veolia and the risk of captivating capitalism
SEE ALSO - Véolia-Suez: "The State will not give in to any ultimatum", announces Bruno Le Maire
The negotiation is going badly. On September 18, Bruno Le Maire revealed that he was positive for Covid. He who likes to play his meter 90, plant his blue gaze in that of his interlocutor to play the scene of "The State, it's me", must for a week lead this part from home, sick and tired, by phone. At the board of Engie, where it would be necessary to convince that the administrators cannot be satisfied, as one close to the file says, to “look at the pile of gold”, the minister speaks by elements of language and via a young official of the 'Agency for State Interposed Participation. It is not even Martin Vial, the director of the powerful management of Bercy, who sits at Engie, and the deputy post is vacant.
The actors shy away. Antoine Frérot snubs the first invitation to a mediation session in Bercy. Affront. Suez bunkerated and resorted to foreign law to create a Dutch foundation protecting its water activity in France. Scandal. Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, boss of Engie, displays his neutrality, but means to the Ardian fund that an offer competing with that of Veolia, which would not be firm and on time, would be unfavorably received. Discomfort. Secret meetings are revealed by press releases. Anger. Sunday October 4, Bruno Le Maire takes a stab at the blood. “I have other things to do!” He shouts to his interlocutors on all sides. Since 7:30 am, he has been calling each other in double call, a luxury intermediary between two companies which in reality already have nothing more to say to each other. Business case lawsuit
In public, Philippe Varin salutes the "courage and commitment" of the minister and Jean-Pierre Clamadieu his "meritorious efforts", Antoine Frérot says he "heard (his) concerns". Behind the scenes, Suez suspects Bercy of driving for Veolia, and Veolia suspects him of driving for Suez… Paris attends the show. “The state is multiple. Everyone would not necessarily be unhappy to see “BLM” crash, ”slips a good connoisseur of the file. The Minister of the Economy is one of the few that the first wave of the epidemic has reinforced. Bercy has become an impregnable fortress, the tenant of which, with an even larger perimeter, has become the minister of "whatever the cost". The Mayor has the State checkbook in his hands, and cultivates his direct working relationship with the Head of State. Enough to refresh relations with the rest of the government, including the Prime Minister.
On October 5, until the last minute or so, Bruno Le Maire tries to get an agreement. In vain. Alexis Kohler asks Antoine Frérot for a final delay. The CEO of Veolia is not moving. "A delay to obtain an agreement, it was possible for him", supposes an expert, "but to save the face of the minister and to risk that Suez to profit from it for new diversions, that did not make sense". As the days go by, it is around the table of the board of directors of Suez that positions have become radicalized. A circle of personalities whitewashed by this hostile operation, and, some suspect, motivated by personal agendas. We find Isabelle Kocher, ex-general manager of Engie, for the departure of which Jean-Pierre Clamadieu worked; Anne Lauvergeon, who has scores to settle since her ouster from Areva; Delphine Ernotte, recently renewed as President of France Télévisions, against the advice of the President of the Republic, it is said; and then Brigitte Taittinger, the wife of Jean-Pierre Jouyet who is promoting his memoirs these days and expressing her bitter disappointment with regard to Emmanuel Macron.
The Head of State may have stayed very far from the file, he is in the crosshairs. As soon as the operation was voted on by Engie on the evening of the 5th, the business case trial was launched. Arnaud Montebourg is having a great time on the sets. It does not matter if the State voted against the sale, it is suspected of having organized its own impotence to allow this operation for the benefit of Veolia. "We had seen them arrive with their big hooves", slips a close to the file. "From the start, the left has sought to identify all those who have had a bit of proximity with the president."
One more reason for Bruno Le Maire not to regret the state's vote on the board of Engie last Monday. If he had abstained or had drawn the consequences of Suez's “intransigence” by rallying to Veolia's offer, the controversy over the “Banana Republic” would have been much more noisy. If he had overturned the table at Engie's to move Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, he would have further destabilized the group.
Bruno Le Maire accepts failure. The Head of State does not hold it against him for this episode. The minister has moved on. The health defense council, the new expansion of the solidarity fund, still a few billion to be released to face the crisis ... the week has been busy. The Suez dossier, which promises fierce guerrilla warfare in the weeks or even months to come, is not over. Who knows if he won't come back to his desk? However, says a relative, "the minister has a long memory".
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-0- Oct / 12/2020 10:32 GMT
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