00:00I remember you and I had actually talked in January just about how much of your world was
00:04changing because of AI. When it comes to hazardous waste and expanding there,
00:08is that an AI play of like some of the hazardous waste that's coming off some of these data centers?
00:14Oh, you're partially right. You know, it's a double gross play, actually, the Kinross
00:19acquisition, which is the largest one we've completed since the Suez deal a few years ago.
00:24And double gross play because we're investing and doubling down both on the U.S. economy,
00:30which is one of the most dynamic one, as well as the hazardous waste business,
00:34which is one of the most promising and high demand segments. And why is that so?
00:38And this is the link with AI because there is a high demand of linked with the investment in
00:46semiconductors, AI and health care in the U.S. in particular linked with reshoring and everything.
00:51And they all are absolutely in high demand for hazardous waste treatment. So, yes, there is a link.
00:57And we have big ambition for it, as you can imagine.
01:00What are those big ambitions, Sal?
01:02So, for AI, AI is a two side coin for us. How do we use it to be more efficient
01:10and how is it a
01:11business opportunity to develop our business? So, the AI industry, we are aiming at having a billion
01:19turnover on this by the end of the decade. This is semiconductor industry as well as today centers.
01:24We've signed a few, you know, deals already with the big, you know, semiconductor company in the world,
01:31in Asia, in the U.S. and elsewhere, as well as with the data centers, because they all are highly
01:37demanding in resource. Everybody thinks about power, but they all need a lot of water.
01:42Veolia is a leader in water technologies worldwide. And they all are facing the same challenges with
01:48regards, you know, acceptability and local acceptability.
01:51So, to get the permit, to get the permit.
01:54There's been a lot of pushback on that. And I think some of the data and your estimates highlight
01:59about why there's been pushback. Again, you've pointed out by 2030, the amount of water that these
02:05hyperscalers and chip fabs are going to be consuming is as much water as 46 million people.
02:11Esel, are tech companies moving fast enough to address what might be and is likely the coming
02:17public backlash to that?
02:19And that's already what those companies have faced. Last year alone, there was $156 billion of project
02:27council or stopped or frozen because of lack of permitting and planning. And that's partially due to
02:34the lack of access to resources. But we have some solutions to make them more sustainable.
02:39Such as recycle wastewater, for instance, reuse the wasted heat to provide in a very affordable
02:47way to the local communities and overall to make them more acceptable to the local communities.
02:53That's exactly why we have great ambition in these segments.
02:56When it comes to corporate transformation, Estelle, along with this deal, when it comes to clean energy,
03:02you've also planned, clean earth rather, you're also planning to sell about 2 billion euros worth
03:07of non-core assets in the next two years. Which geographies, which businesses, what are you
03:13thinking about what's on the chopping block at the moment?
03:15So overall, you're right. You know, Veolia's portfolio, we are 50 billion ton of a company,
03:20Fortune 500, moving very fast to transform our portfolio towards more innovative and tech-driven,
03:26as well as more international footprint company. That's why we've invested in the U.S. in hazardous
03:32ways with cleaners. And we're selling the, you know, less growing fast type of activity,
03:39which are less interesting and less value added in a way. So this is massive, 3 billion acquisition,
03:47and it followed another one last year in water technologies, and 2 billion of divestment.
03:52Overall, we will have rotated 20% of our asset base in only four years, which is massive.
04:00So the company is transforming fast.
04:02Right. No, it certainly is. And it's been really interesting to watch. Where do you find the most
04:06receptive audience or buyer for the things you're looking to spin off? Is it public markets? Is it
04:12interesting maybe to do a spin off that way? Is it strategic buyers? Is it some of your peers? Is
04:17it
04:17private capital funds? Where do you see the most interest for some of these non-core businesses?
04:24I would say, you know, before talking about, you know, who could I sell those assets to?
04:29The first thing is, you know, I found a lot of high demand for all our services across the globe.
04:34And I
04:35think it's very, very interesting. The high demand for what I call environmental security, which is to
04:40secure the supply of water, to secure the supply of energy, to secure the supply of highly critical
04:47minerals, for instance, which is exactly what Veolia does, or even, you know, to reduce pollution and
04:53treat pollutants such as PFAS. So that's where we invest the most. And the demand is super high in
04:59many countries. Where we so and the interest for the asset we sell, usually they are good assets.
05:06They are just not growing as fast as where we think we could add the most value added. So we
05:13they could
05:13be private equity. There could be no other strategic buyers. We have a track record of
05:19buying the right stuff and selling the right stuff and delivering on our business plan and creating
05:23value for our shareholders as well. By the way, in terms of buying the right stuff, I should correct
05:27myself. I think I might have said the deal was for six billion. It's three. You didn't overpay for
05:31it. It was half of what I said. It's six billion or more than six billion in overall revenue that
05:35it contributes. Well, you were right is there was a six billion in our press release. So three billion
05:41is the proceeds. But we already have a six billion dollar footprint in the US. This is probably where
05:47the two figures collapse. Thank you for clarifying that. And look, you're I think this also just
05:54highlights. Yes, you're doubling down on the US, but you are a multinational CEO. You operate in over
05:5950 countries and the macro backdrop is complex right now. How are you dealing with rising fuel prices,
06:09with supply chains that continue to be interrupted? Where is that hitting your business and how are you
06:14dealing with it? Oh, actually, we are very protected against a lot of the macro backdrop of the supply
06:24chain difficulties and even tariff when there was a big discussion on tariff. And why is that so?
06:30Because we are really a multi local company. So we really are embedded in the local communities, as well
06:35as very with a very worldwide footprint when it comes to innovation and pattern and investing in
06:42technologies. So really, this is the two sides which counts to make us super well protected against those
06:49change in the world. Plus, we are really, you know, each time we are in a country, we want to
06:56play,
06:57to play big, we want to be in the top three. So we're not an observer, we're a big player.
07:02And that protects
07:03us against, you know, like inflation as well. Because we have some pricing power, what we do for our customer
07:09is well respected and actually critical needs. So the word critical here in today's multi crisis mode is
07:18absolutely essential.
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