Seventeen years after its IPO, the renationalisation of Electricité de France is launched. This Tuesday, the French State, already an 84% shareholder, undertook to buy back the remaining shares at 12 euros in order to become the sole shareholder of the energy company. In all, this “takeover bid” should cost the French state 9 billion 700 million euros. This Tuesday morning, the title soared on the Paris Stock Exchange.
To allow the State to work on its offer, the quotation was suspended last Wednesday and this Tuesday morning the title jumped to 11.76 euros. For the holders of the shares, this represents a premium of 53%, and it is important to convince these shareholders to sell their shares.
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The State intends to spend 9 billion 700 million euros to carry out this takeover bid. He included them in his amending budget discussed Thursday in Parliament. The takeover bid will be filed with the stock market watchdog by September, but it has already been contested by some of the group’s employee shareholders and former employees who have announced that they are filing a complaint against the State.
They accuse him of having as majority shareholder put the company (today over-indebted) in difficulty by his “inconsiderate” strategic and industrial choices, in particular the obligation to sell electricity at low cost to its competitors.
Bercy minimizes the effects of this complaint on the operation. And for the government, the OPA is justified: giving 100% control of the energy company will allow it to have free rein to undertake major projects such as structural reforms and massive investments in favor of nuclear power… supplier of electricity.
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An issue deemed more vital than ever in the current geopolitical context. This Tuesday, EDF announces that an ad hoc committee will be responsible for issuing a recommendation to the Board of Directors on the interest of the takeover bid, which should be a formality given the identity of the majority shareholder.
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