French utility Veolia proposes sale of Suez's UK waste business

PARIS (Reuters) - French utility Veolia said on Thursday it was proposing to sell off Suez's UK waste business, after Britain's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) raised objections to the Veolia/Suez combination.

"In order to terminate this long period of waiting, but above all to be able to fully focus on the creation of the world champion, in the United Kingdom as elsewhere in the world, Veolia has informed the CMA on Monday of its intention to sell all of Suez's waste activities in the country," said Veolia.

"This drastic decision is an effective response to the intransigence of the CMA. Veolia strongly disagrees with their analysis of the concerned markets and deplores the lack of shared understanding of the issues related to our sectors of activity," added Veolia.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Mark Potter)