Veolia closes in on Transdev deal -paper

PARIS, July 20 (Reuters) - French utility group Veolia (VIE.PA) is close to reaching an agreement to buy transport company Transdev, Le Figaro reported on Monday.

Transdev is approximately 70-percent owned by French state bank Caisse des Depots (CDC).

Officials at the Caisse des Depots could not be immediately reached for comment on the report, while a Veolia spokesman declined to comment.

Le Figaro cited sources as saying that the office of French President Nicolas Sarkozy supported a deal between Veolia and Transdev.

Veolia said last month that it was looking at ways of combining its Veolia Transport division with that of Transdev to create a new European leader in the travel sector.

Previous French media reports have said Keolis, a transport group majority-owned by French railway operator SNCF [SNCF.UL], was also interested in Transdev.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by John Stonestreet)