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Power giant EDF's board meets to name new chief

Published 09/27/2009, 01:52 PM
Updated 09/27/2009, 01:54 PM
EDF
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* Henri Proglio to be appointed new head of EDF-sources

* EDF to raise stake in Veolio Environnement-sources

* Economy Minister says Gadonneix will not get another term

* Prime Minister says next EDF head will be an industrialist

By Marie Maitre

PARIS, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The board of French power group EDF was due to meet at 1800 GMT to appoint Veolia Chief Executive Henri Proglio as its new head, two sources close to the situation told Reuters on Sunday.

The board meeting, originally set on Sept. 23, will conclude weeks of intense media speculation on who the replacement of Pierre Gadonneix at the helm of state-owned EDF after the latter angered the government by calling for sharp tariff increases.

"It is at 99 percent a done deal," said one source with very good knowledge of the matter. "In principle, (Henri) Proglio will be appointed but there are still a couple of things that need to be decided."

Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said on Sunday that the mandate of 66-year old Pierre Gadonneix, which exprires in November, would not be renewed.

EDF said it would issue a statement after the board meeting.

The role that Proglio will retain in Veolia after becoming chairman and chief executive of EDF remains to be defined, as are the terms of EDF's future stakeholding in Veolia -- two conditions set by Proglio for accepting EDF's top job -- the same source said.

Proglio had been seen as a leading contender amid potential successors for Gadonneix, after several sources with direct knowledge of the situation said French President Nicolas Sarkozy had offered him the job.

But Proglio, who had already turned down the same offer in 2004, was said to be reluctant to leave Veolia, a company where he spent his entire career and which he was instrumental in shaping into the world's biggest water company.

The source said Proglio could chose keep a firm foot in Veolia by staying chairman of the supervisory board or becoming chairman of the strategy committee.

A second source who confirmed that Proglio was expected to be appointed tonight did however not confirm the role he would keep in Veolia or reports that Antoine Frerot, head of Veolia's water division, would succeed him.

"Everything is in Proglio's head really. He's a man excessively attached to governance issues, so we don't know who will succeed him at the CEO-ship and whether he will remain chairman. All we know is that he's accepted to go to EDF."

"We'll know more about this when Veolia holds its own board meeting," the second source added.

French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche reported on Sunday that Veolia was expected to hold a board meeting on Monday, but a spokeswoman at Veolia declined to comment on that. Prime Minister Francois Fillon told that newspaper the new EDF head would be an industrialist.

Also at stake is EDF's financial holding in Veolia.

This is a key point for Proglio as sources said he feared his departure could whet the appetites of predators for Veolia, which is in the process of restructuring after a spending spree on acquisitions that pushed its debt sharply higher.

Les Echos reported that EDF could raise its stake in Veolia to 13-14 percent, from about 4 percent on Dec. 31.

"EDF does not have a lot of cash to spend on this so the idea would be that Veolia buys EDF out of their Dalkia joint venture and EDF uses the receipts to raise its stake, but I think we are talking about 10 percent rather than 15 percent," the first source said, insisting that nothing was decided yet on this point.

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(Additional reporting by Julien Ponthus, editing by Marcel Michelson)

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