Earlier today, a report from Dow Jones Newswire stated that Antoine Fereot, Chairman of Veolia Environment, indicated during an annual shareholder meeting that a buyer has been selected for the Milwaukee-based solid waste management unit of the company.  The buyer was not identified by name.

While the information may ultimately be true, Veolia is now claiming that it was a misstatement.  

"The information shared by our Chairman Antoine Frerot during today's annual shareholder meeting was only confirming the communications we released previously regarding Veolia's solid waste asset divestment program in the United States. Specifically, as part of the process being run by our investment bankers, Veolia has received several non-binding offers for its Solid Waste business in the United States. The process is ongoing with plans to select a buyer by Summer 2012."

In the original report, Dow Jones claimed that three groups had submitted indicative bids for the U.S. and U.K. based business units.  Bidders included AXA Private Equite, GS Infrastructure Partners (a Goldman Sachs unit), and Icon Infrastructure based out of the U.K.