Bulletin: ENGIE's Suez Disposal And New CEO Are Credit-Positive Developments

PARIS (S&P Global Ratings) Oct. 6, 2020--S&P Global Ratings said today that the Suez disposal and newly appointed CEO are credit-positive moves for ENGIE SA (BBB+/Stable/A-2) and are in line with the base-case expectations for the current rating. On Oct.5, ENGIE's Board of Directors accepted the offer from Veolia Environnement S.A. (BBB/Stable/A-2) to purchase the 29.9% stake in Suez at €18 per share, yielding proceeds of €3.4 billion. This value was revised up last week from the €15.50 per share discussed in the initial offer made on Aug. 31. Both the disposal proceeds the resulting pre-tax capital gain of €1.8 billion will be included in ENGIE's 2020 financial results. We understand the transaction will close in the coming days, since

...October 6, 2020 PARIS (S&P Global Ratings) Oct. 6, 2020--S&P Global Ratings said today that the Suez disposal and newly appointed CEO are credit-positive moves for ENGIE SA (###+/Stable/A-2) and are in line with the base-case expectations for the current rating. On Oct.5, ENGIE's Board of Directors accepted the offer from Veolia Environnement S.A. (###/Stable/A-2) to purchase the 29.9% stake in Suez at 18 per share, yielding proceeds of 3.4 billion. This value was revised up last week from the 15.50 per share discussed in the initial offer made on Aug. 31. Both the disposal proceeds the resulting pre-tax capital gain of 1.8 billion will be included in ENGIE's 2020 financial results. We understand the transaction will close in the coming days, since it is not subject to any regulatory approvals. The transaction helps restore the group's balance sheet and facilitate deleveraging. This eases the strain on the group's 2020 credit metrics, squeezed by lower-than-expected operating performance...

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