Veolia says resumed talks with CDC about Transdev exit

PARIS (Reuters) - Veolia Chief Executive Antoine Frerot said on Tuesday the water and waste group had resumed talks with French state-owned bank CDC about selling Veolia's stake in their Transdev public transport joint venture.

"Talks with CDC have resumed, we hope to have an agreement about exiting from Transdev by the end of this year," Frerot told reporters.

Veolia and CDC each own 50 percent of Transdev. Veolia has long wanted to sell all or part of its stake to CDC, but CDC refused to buy it as long as Transdev owned troubled France-Corsica ferry operator SNCM.

With the sale of SNCM to a Corsican firm late last year, the path is now clear for Veolia to negotiate the conditions of its exit from Transdev and the transport business, which is not core for Veolia.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by James Regan)