Veolia’s energy ambitions | Nature’ s Care flyer lands | Viburnum sets sights on Coventry

Good evening,

Veolia, the French utility capitalised at €20.27 billion ($22 billion) on the Euronext, wants to be more than just Cleanaway’s rival in managing Australia’s waste. And it has the mothership’s blessing to deploy its acquisition war chest.

Street Talk can reveal Veolia has acquired Electricity In A Box, an energy retailer that pitches itself as the “fastest electricity activation” service for residential and commercial customers. On the other side of the transaction, the Bondi-based business helps generators sell co-branded or white-labelled electricity plans via its platform.

Sources said Veolia took keys to the business earlier this month. A Veolia spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by this column on Monday, but pointed to its GreenUp strategic program which prioritised growth in its energy business.

The head office’s dictum seems to have trickled down to its Australian offices already. Sources said Veolia has been on the prowl for M&A opportunities within the energy sector, kicking tyres at businesses focused on commercial and industrial retail, energy-as-a-service ventures, behind-the-meter service providers, and renewable gas.

It is a change of flavour from the waste management auctions, where Veolia has traditionally focused its local M&A efforts.

Read the full story tomorrow and more on the Street Talk page.

Nature’s Care sale documents are in front of potential buyers as Houlihan Lokey kicks off a sale process. Interested parties were told the sellers hope to have everything wrapped up by the end of October

The Australian sharemarket advanced on Monday for a fifth day of gains, buoyed by an upbeat earnings report from JB Hi-Fi in a busy week of corporate results.

Click here for the latest equity market wrap.