PARIS: Antoine Frerot, the chairman and chief executive of French utility Veolia , told Le Figaro newspaper in an interview published on Wednesday that a deal with its bid target Suez was still possible.

"We can arrive at an agreement with Suez," Frerot told the paper, adding he thought another two or three months of talks could result in a deal being reached with Suez.

Veolia has already secured 30per cent of the capital of its rival Suez and stands ready to launch an offer on the remainder of the shares but the month-long battle appears far from over as the target strongly reaffirmed its refusal to yield.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, editing by Louise Heavens)