graphic
News > International
Suez eyes Liquide
March 5, 2001: 9:03 a.m. ET

French industrial gas producer Air Liquide rises after Suez Lyonnais approach
graphic
graphic graphic
graphic
LONDON (CNN) - Air Liquide, the French industrial gases producer, said on Monday it had been approached by Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux about a possible tie-up.

The Franco-Belgian water-to-electricity conglomerate approached Alain Joly, the chairman of Air Liquide about a "collaboration between the two companies," Air Liquide said.

But the French gas maker said such a move, which it didn't detail further, would be unattractive to shareholders.

graphicThe board of Air Liquide "considers there is neither the industrial, nor the economic logic for such a move which would warrant the interest of the shareholders of Air Liquide."

Air Liquide (PAI) shares rose 2.3 percent to graphic161.50 in afternoon trade in Paris, valuing the company at around graphic14.8 billion ($13.7 billion). Suez (PLY) shares were down 5.6 percent at graphic169.80, bringing its market value to around graphic34.5 billion.

Suez executives didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.

Air Liquide became a takeover target last year after it dropped its $11.2 billion joint offer with Allentown, Penn.-based Air Products and Chemicals  (APD: Research, Estimates) for British rival BOC Group (BOC) after failing to win the approval of U.S. antitrust regulators.

The Paris-based company on Friday reported a slightly higher-than-expected 16 percent rise in annual net profit of graphic563 million and pledged to boost earnings per share by more than 55 percent over the next three years. graphic




graphic

© 2009 Cable News Network. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Policy. Advertising Practices.
Live Quotes automatically refresh, but individual equities are delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET.
* : Time reflects local markets trading time. † - Intraday data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. Disclaimer
Copyright © 2009 BigCharts.com Inc. All rights reserved. Please see our Terms of Use.
MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc.
Intraday data provided by Interactive Data Real-Time Services and subject to the Terms of Use.
Intraday data is at least 20-minutes delayed. All times are ET.
Historical, current end-of-day data, and splits data provided by Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data.
Fundamental data provided by Morningstar, Inc..
SEC Filings data provided by Edgar Online Inc..
Earnings data provided by FactSet CallStreet, LLC.
Home | Contact Us | Advertise with Us | Corrections | Career Opportunities | Site Map
RSS | Email Delivery | Portfolio | Podcasts | Mobile | Widgets | User Preferences | Special Sections
| Magazine Customer Service | Download Fortune Lists | Reprints | Conferences | Business Leader Council