Gérard Mestrallet finally fulfilled his old dream of merging Gaz de France and Suez two months ago to create a new European energy champion. But instead of sitting back and relaxing this summer, the GDF-Suez chairman has not stopped wheeling and dealing to expand his group’s international reach.

He has already announced nearly a dozen deals since consummating the GDF marriage and spent about €4bn ($5.6bn) in a whole series of targeted acquisitions across the globe. No blockbusters, but significant moves to strengthen the group’s presence in several different gas and electricity markets.