The government does not want to let this French flagship go. The Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, declared, Thursday May 2, that he intended to fight so that the planned transfer of the main listing of the French giant TotalEnergies from Paris to New York “does not have place”.
“I am here to ensure that this does not happen, because I think it is a serious decision,” declared Bruno Le Maire on BFMTV/RMC. “Is it the supreme interest of the nation to keep the head office of Total in France and the main listing of Total in France? Yes, and therefore I will fight for that,” he added.
“We need Total. I have had the opportunity on several occasions to say to what extent it is an asset for France to have a large oil company like Total,” he underlined, mentioning the capping at less than 2 euros per liter of fuel at the pump by the group during the surge in energy prices.
The rise of its North American shareholder base
At the end of April, the CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, said he was considering a primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange, mentioning in an interview with Bloomberg the rise of its North American institutional shareholder base, which had become almost the majority. “It’s not a question of emotion. It’s a question of business,” added the manager, while ensuring that the head office of this flagship of the CAC 40 would remain in Paris.
Patrick Pouyanné had notably mentioned Europe’s reluctance regarding its strategy which consists of continuing to invest in fossil fuels to continue to remunerate its shareholders and to finance its transition to low-carbon energies.
Bruno Le Maire estimated Thursday that “the best way” to meet the financing needs of TotalEnergies was to set up a capital markets union (UMC) in the European Union, which France is calling for to influence the savings of Europeans towards financing the energy and digital transition.
Today, TotalEnergies already has securities listed in London and New York, but on a secondary basis. Since 2012, the share of North American institutional shareholding has increased from 33% to 48% (including 47% for the United States) in 2023 while that of Europe (excluding the United Kingdom) has increased from 45%. % to 34% over the same period. Institutional ownership represents 78% of the company’s total ownership.