FORM
6-K
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
Report
of Foreign Issuer
Pursuant
to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16
of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For
the
month of May, 2007
Commission
File Number: 001-31274
SODEXHO
ALLIANCE, SA
(Translation
of registrant’s name into English)
3,
avenue Newton
78180
Montigny - le - Bretonneux
France
(Address
of principal executive offices)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:
Form
20-F
X
Form
40-F
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):
Yes
____
No
X
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):
Yes
____
No
X
Indicate
by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in this Form,
the
Registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant
to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:
Yes
____
No
X
If
“Yes”
is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): N/A
Item
1.
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Sodexho
Alliance intends to delist its American Depositary Receipts from
the New
York Stock Exchange and to deregister under the U.S. securities
laws
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Item
1
SODEXHO
ALLIANCE INTENDS TO DELIST ITS AMERICAN DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS FROM THE NEW
YORK
STOCK EXCHANGE AND TO DEREGISTER UNDER THE U.S. SECURITIES
LAWS
Paris,
May 30, 2007
- Sodexho Alliance (Euronext
Paris
FR0000121220 - SW / NYSE:SDX) announced
today that the Board of
Directors has approved management’s recommendation to apply for voluntary
delisting of its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) from the New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE) and voluntary deregistration under the U.S. Securities Exchange
Act of 1934. Sodexho expects that its applications will be filed in
order to give effect to these actions following the finalization of the new
deregistration rules issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC). Sodexho anticipates that the delisting and deregistration will
occur prior to August 31, 2007.
Sodexho’s
decision
to delist and deregister is based on the following:
·
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Sodexho
Alliance is listed on Euronext, which is now a part of NYSE-Euronext,
and
the average trading volume on Euronext accounts for
approximately 97% of trading over the last 12
months.
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·
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The
ADR
trading volume on the NYSE has remained very low since 2002 and
has only
accounted for approximately 1% of the total shares traded over
the last
five years.
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·
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Since
Sodexho
has adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS),
it is no
longer necessary to reconcile our financial statements to a second
accounting standard as Sodexho believes that the standards generally
are
equivalent in terms of quality of information for
investors.
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Sodexho
intends to
maintain its ADR program as a “level one” program and at the same time institute
procedures whereby Sodexho U.S. employees who participate in the stock option
and employee stock purchase plans would have direct access to trading on
the
Euronext market.
Sodexho
successfully
complied with the requirements of Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley in its Form
20F
covering the fiscal year ended 31 August 2006. Sodexho will continue its
focus
on the effectiveness of the Group’s internal control processes as improving
internal controls and risk management processes remain a key priority for
the
Group.
SODEXHO
ALLIANCE, founded in 1966 by Pierre Bellon, is the leading global provider
of
Food and Facilities Management services, with more than 332,000 employees
on
28,300 sites in 80 countries. For Fiscal 2006, which closed August 31, 2006,
SODEXHO ALLIANCE had sales of 12.8 billion euro. Listed on Euronext Paris
and on
the New York Stock Exchange, the Group’s current market capitalization is 8.9
billion euro.
Press
contacts:
William
Mengebier
Tel:
+ 33 (1)
30 85 74 18 - Fax: +33 (1) 30 85 50 10
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Investor
relations:
Pierre
Benaich
Tel:
+ 33 (1)
30 85 29 39 - Fax: +33 (1) 30 85 50 05
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Anthony
Marechal
Tel
: + 33 (1)
30 85 71 89 - Fax : +33 (1) 30 85 50 10
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant
has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized.
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SODEXHO
ALLIANCE, SA
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Date:
May 30, 2007
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By:
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/s/
Siân
Herbert-Jones
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Name:
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Siân
Herbert-Jones
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Title:
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Chief
Financial
Officer
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