French utility giant Suez Lyonnaise has approached industrial gases company Air Liquide about a possible tie-up. A spokeswoman for Suez said she could not yet make any comment, and Air Liquide was not…
French utility giant Suez Lyonnaise has approached industrial gases company Air Liquide about a possible tie-up. A spokeswoman for Suez said she could not yet make any comment, and Air Liquide was not immediately available. Despite strong 2000 earnings, Air Liquide had become vulnerable to a takeover since U.S. antitrust authorities blocked its buy of British industrial gases firm BOC last year. It said that Suez was seeking to refocus on its core activities, such as energy, where there would be a strategic overlap with Air Liquide, following its January decision not to bid for a next-generation UMTS mobile phone licence in France. Suez chief Gerard Mestrallet said last September, after a merger with Germany“s E.ON collapsed, that any future merger would have to allow Suez to keep control over its destiny and develop one of its core businesses – energy, water, waste management and communications.