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28 February 2008 - Gaz de France handed an olive branch to unions over jobs to seal its delayed merger with the private utility Suez.
After almost two years of delays, GDF expects to merge with Suez by the middle of the year in a €90bn, or $136bn, combination, creating one of Europe's biggest energy utilities.
But a French judge recently ordered GDF to give more information to unions, leaving doubts over the final timing of the deal, which must also be approved by shareholders and courts.
The chief executive of GDF, Jean-François Cirelli, said Wednesday that talks with unions were going more smoothly, and he offered to meet their concerns about jobs and the way in which workers would be represented.
Suez reaffirmed the midyear target on Wednesday, while saying a few weeks' delay would not matter.
The French state owns about 80 per cent of GDF. Its share will fall to 35 per cent in the new group.
Although the government says this grants the state a blocking minority vote, unions say it means the privatization of GDF. Some of Suez's investors are worried about the exact opposite, saying it means the nationalization of that company.
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