French vivendi environment takes over water, electricity and sanitation concession in Rabat

French "Vivendi Environnement" officially took over on Wednesday the concession contract for water, wastewater and electricity services for Rabat-Sale in Morocco, after it has bought over Redal, a Spanish-Portuguese company which held the concession

Redal had won in 1999 a contract for municipal water, wastewater and electricity services in the region of Rabat-Sale.

Under a protocol agreement between Vivendi Environnement and the Rabat authorities, VE which also delivers drinking water, wastewater and electricity services to Tangiers and Tetuan undertakes to secure the continuity of the services.

Redal share-holders, Portuguese Pleiade DP and EDP (29% each), Spanish Urbazur (29%) and Moroccan Alborada (13%), asked last March for the authorization to cede all their concern to the French group. The Rabat authorities approved in October the 100% takeover of Redal.

The original 30-year contract includes an investment program, principally to improve the quality of services provided to the customer and extend the networks to cover the whole population.

VE is a leading provider of water and wastewater services for municipal authorities, industrial companies and consumers. The company provides a wide range of outsourcing and design-build services, as well as equipment and systems. With operations in more than 100 countries, Vivendi Water serves over 110 million consumers and 40,000 industrial customers worldwide. It has revenues of 13.6 billion euros for 2001 and 72,600 employees.