Veolia expands
We've written before about the French company Veolia Environnement that has major holdings in water utilities, waste management services (it's #1 in Europe), transport services, and related technology. It was spun off from French media/water company Vivendi in 2002, when that company collapsed from overextension and mismanagement. Recently, Veolia said that it had 2 billion euros in reserve to buy up other companies.
In recent weeks, Veolia expanded by buying a UK unit of Australian conglomerate Brambles Industries Ltd. in a $1.1 billion deal. The unit, called Cleanaway UK, a waste management company for both municipalities and industries.
Meanwhile, Veolia keeps expanding its municipal water system business with expanded contracts in such countries as the US, Slovakia, Hungary, and Australia. IT has become involved in desalinization projects in Israel and Bahrain. And it's setting up the first French biodiesel plant.
But Veolia is in danger of overexpanding into non-core areas, just like Vivendi and Brambles. It recently pursued a hostile bid for French construction company Vinci. The Financial Times called it "looks like a triumph of empire-building over cold commercial reasoning." In the end, the resistance of Vinci management forces Veolia to give up.
Meanwhile, Vivendi, now mostly just the owner of Universal Music (the world #1 record company) has announced it will sell its $1.1 billion remaining stake in its ex-subsidiary.
7:35:56 PM 
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