Suez and Gaz de France have outlined the proposed structure of the new merged company, ending months of wrangling over senior positions.
The proposed structure would see Suez chairman and CEO Gerard Mestrallet become chairman and CEO of the new group, with Gaz de France (GDF) chairman and CEO Jean-Francois Cirelli taking on the role of vice chairman and president.
The two companies said that the organizational plan, which will be implemented rapidly to ensure the group is operational as of January 2007, is designed to be both efficient and dynamic.
The group will be structured around business units and operational functions. Six business units have been created along both sector and geographical lines. The first unit, Energy France, will be managed by Henri Ducre and consist of the electricity production assets, the portfolio of electricity supply contracts and all of the marketing activities in France
Energy Europe and International, meanwhile, will be managed by Jean-Pierre Hansen and will consist of three divisions: Energy Benelux-Germany, Energy Europe and Energy International.
Thirdly, the Global Gas and LNG business unit will be managed by Jean-Marie Dauger and will include the exploration-production division, the group’s gas supply contracts, activities linked to LNG and the major European industrial gas clients
Infrastructures will be managed by Yves Colliou and will regroup the transport activities, LNG terminals and gas storage in France and Belgium, as well as the French distribution businesses
The Environment unit will be managed by Jean-Louis Chaussade and will remain identical to the current Suez Environment set-up, which includes water and waste activities
Finally, the Energy Services unit will be directed by Jerome Tolot and will regroup all of Suez’ services activities, as well as those of GDF (Cofathec).
The Energy Europe & International, Energy Services and Environment business units will report to Gerard Mestrallet. The Global Gas & LNG, Infrastructures and Energy France business units will report to Jean-Francois Cirelli.
In addition, an Energy Policy committee, chaired by Jean-Pierre Hansen, will be created.
The two companies said that the plan will be submitted to the employee representatives for consultation before being reviewed by the boards of directors. It will then be implemented once the merger proposal has been approved by the European Commission and by the shareholders’ meeting of the two groups, which is expected to take place before the end of 2006.