VEOLIA AND KEOLIS INTERESTED IN TRANSDEV
French utility group Veolia Environnement, has reported being interested in combining its transport arm, Veolia Transport, with French company Transdev, a subsidiary of the Caisse de Depots et Consignations Group (CDC); the Paris public transport company RATP is holding 25 percent of the Transdev shares, 7 percent are held by the Italian bank Sanpaolo IMI.
Veolia plans, through a change of share ownership, to create a new global leader in mass passenger transit which would seek a stock market listing as soon as conditions permit. French sources have also suggested that another French company, SNCF (French Railways) owning Keolis, is showing interest in Transdev.
Veolia is operating public transport activities in many European countries, and a number outside Europe. Transdev is a smaller player, being mainly active in France, but also having some UK bus operations including Transdev London, Transdev Yellow Buses and the Blazefield Group, as well as a share holding in Nottingham City
Transport. In the Netherlands Transdev acquired in 2007 66 percent of the shares of Connexxion, the main public transport company.
