French company Veolia to sell sulfuric acid regeneration business in North America

By Dominique Vidalon

PARIS (Reuters) – French group Veolia said it has agreed to sell its North American sulfuric acid regeneration business to private equity firm American Industrial Partners for an enterprise value (EV) of $620 million.

The divestiture of Veolia North America Regeneration Services, which includes its sulfuric acid and hydrofluoric acid regeneration activities for refineries, is part of Veolia’s strategy to divest non-priority assets to free up resources for core businesses, the company said.

The sold division generated revenue in 2023 of US$350 million.

“This divestiture is in line with our policy of continually reshaping our asset portfolio in line with the strategic priorities of our GreenUp plan, while maintaining strict balance sheet discipline,” said CEO Estelle Brachlianoff.

Veolia, whose “GreenUp” medium-term strategic plan runs until 2027, reports first-half earnings on August 1.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)