Veolia has not yet taken effective control of Suez (this will only be the case on January 18), but Antoine Frérot is already ready to hand over the general management of the new group.
At the end of long months of a Homeric battle, Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia since 2010, had succeeded last year with the project of his professional life: that Veolia get its hands on its historic rival Suez.
It is not he who will have to manage the vast integration project that is coming.
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The CEO of Veolia has decided to separate the functions of Chairman and CEO of the group from July 1, 2022. General management will then be provided by Estelle Brachlianoff, Deputy CEO since 2018. Graduated from Polytechnique and Ponts et Chaussées, the future CEO of Veolia joined the company in 2005.
Antoine Frérot will remain president of Veolia.
His term of office as director, which expired at the next general meeting, will be renewed.
"The directors expressed to Antoine Frérot their unanimous wish that he retain the chairmanship of the board of directors of Veolia"
, explains the company.
World's leading environmental player
This succession is occurring earlier than expected by the markets.
With the takeover of Suez, Veolia consolidates its position as the world's leading environmental player, with sales increasing from 27 billion to 37 billion euros, and the number of employees rising from 180,000 to 230,000.
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Antoine Frérot: "Veolia changes dimension"
This is a consecration for Antoine Frérot, who joined the group in 1990. He joined a company then called the Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE), a subsidiary of a conglomerate very focused on the media.
He became CEO of Veolia in 2009, then CEO of the company from the following year.
