French Industry Minister says Fincantieri must have less than 50% stake in STX France (translated)
26 FEB 2017
Christophe Sirugue, the French Industry Minister, has said in an interview with Italian language daily La Stampa that Italian ship builder Fincantieri [BIT:FCT] should hold less than a 50% stake in French shipbuilder STX France.
The item noted that Fincantieri has reached an agreement to acquire 66.7% of STX France from bankrupt South Korean ship builder STX Offshore & Shipbuilding. However, Sirugue said that the French government wanted to restrict Fincantieri to less than a 50% stake because Fincantieri was a direct competitor of STX France and that there was a danger that the synergies rising from the deal could weaken the French shipmaker.
Sirugue added that there were no plans to nationalise STX France. He added that he was also open to the idea that a second Italian company could ally with Fincantieri so that collectively they held a majority stake in STX France. However, Sirugue noted that the second company would have to be privately owned.
As reported, the sale of a 66.7% stake in STX France is expected to raise EUR 100m-EUR 200m.