Veolia adds a major strategic ally: CriteriaCaixa to acquire a 5% stake in the company

Veolia and CriteriaCaixa, la Caixa Foundation's investment company, announce that CriteriaCaixa will enter into the capital of Veolia Environnement, and have a representative to its Board of Directors, as part of a stable shareholding and governance agreement.

CriteriaCaixa's upcoming investment in Veolia, a world leader in ecological transformation, reflects its commitment to Veolia's vision and strategic direction, and in particular to its GreenUp plan, which offers its shareholders an investment profile with the opportunity of creating sustainable value. Such investment is also based on the values promoted by Veolia and its global approach to managing its activities and its relations with its employees, partners and stakeholders, across the globe and in the context of the company engagement in Spain. 

With a representative on Veolia's Board of Directors to be proposed at the next General Shareholders Meeting, CriteriaCaixa, as a strategic investor, will thus support Veolia's strategic direction, governance and independence, both on the Board of Directors and at the General Shareholders Meeting. Through this representation CriteriaCaixa will be able to contribute meaningfully to the company’s governance and long-term success.

The acquisition of a 5% stake in Veolia will reinforce CriteriaCaixa’s diversified portfolio. The deal will be a major milestone in the company 2025-2030 Strategic Plan, which prioritizes its role as a stabilizing agent of the economy, reinforcing its commitment to companies in strategic industries such as banking, energy, telecommunications and utilities, as well as promoting future industrial development through investment in new sectors and projects.

CriteriaCaixa has capped its stake in Veolia at 5.5% and will hold on to its shares for at least two years.

Isidro Fainé, Chairman of CriteriaCaixa,expressed: “We are very pleased to join forces with Veolia and to contribute to its future development. Our commitment and involvement in the success of this company will strengthen “la Caixa” Foundation’s assets structure, with the aim of generating the necessary financial resources to further developing our social and philanthropic activity”.

Antoine Frérot, Chairman of Veolia Environnement,commented: “We are delighted to welcome our new shareholder CriteriaCaixa, a company that we know well, to our Board of Directors. Veolia is convinced that through this investment, the friendly commitment of this major ally in support of our strategic plan and our independence will create shared opportunities and have a very positive impact on the Group's development’.”

ABOUT CRITERIACAIXA

CriteriaCaixa is the holding company of “la Caixa” Foundation that manages its business assets. The company priority is to provide the economic resources that allow the foundation to continue pursuing social action, year after year, contributing to the development of a society that gives more opportunities to those who most need them and increasing the foundation’s wealth through value generation. As the first investment holding company in Spain and one of the first in Europe, CriteriaCaixa manages a portfolio of close to €30 billion that combines relevant shareholdings in strategic sectors with a growing diversified investment portfolio, ensuring the recurring flow of dividends.

ABOUT VEOLIA

Veolia group aims to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. Present on five continents with 215,000 employees, the Group designs and deploys useful, practical solutions for the management of water, waste and energy that are contributing to a radical turnaround of the current situation. Through its three complementary activities, Veolia helps to develop access to resources, to preserve available resources and to renew them. In 2024, the Veolia group provided 111 million inhabitants with drinking water and 98 million with sanitation, produced 42 million megawatt hours of energy and treated 65 million tonnes of waste. Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) achieved consolidated revenue of 44.7 billion euros in 2024.