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Résumé — La Lettre du 26/02/2026

En français

Cette édition couvre cinq sujets principaux :

1. Le sommet spatial de Macron sous haute pression. Le sommet international de l’espace, annoncé par Macron en novembre 2025 à Toulouse, se tiendra finalement entre le 7 et le 14 juillet à Paris. Une cellule restreinte pilotée par Philippe Baptiste (ministre de l’Espace), Philippe Adam (Commandement de l’espace) et Hélène Huby (Way4Space) organise l’événement sur le modèle du sommet IA du Grand Palais. Problème majeur : l’Allemagne, qui devait être partenaire, lance sa propre constellation de satellites (SATCOMBw N4, 35 Mds€) via OHB et Rheinmetall, en concurrence directe avec le programme européen Iris². Le salon ILA Berlin (10-14 juin) risque d’éclipser l’événement parisien.

2. Claire Le Flécher prend la tête de la Cofrex. L’ex-ambassadrice au Koweït remplace Jacques Maire à la présidence de la Compagnie française des expositions, en vue de piloter le pavillon France à l’Expo universelle de Riyad 2030. La nomination vise à tourner la page des tensions avec LVMH et l’Institut français lors d’Osaka 2025.

3. Smartbox en zone rouge. La “cash machine” de Pierre-Édouard Stérin est en difficulté : chiffre d’affaires en recul de 7% (203,5 M€), trésorerie en baisse de 36% (71 M€), dette potentielle de 277,5 M€ en coffrets non utilisés, retards de paiement aux prestataires hôteliers, et vague de départs de cadres dirigeants. L’EBITDA reste modeste (19,2 M€) avec un recul prévu de 15% sur le prochain exercice.

4. Latour Capital rachète Engie Home Services. Le fonds d’investissement, allié à Stéphane Caine (Proxiserve), négocie l’acquisition de la filiale maintenance d’Engie (4 500 salariés). Latour Capital prévoit un rebranding vers l’ancienne marque Savelys, une transition vers les pompes à chaleur, et s’engage à ne pas initier de plan social pendant 24 mois.

5. Engie : Clamadieu prolongé, Giannuzzi en successeur. Jean-Pierre Clamadieu est prolongé d’un an à la tête du conseil d’administration d’Engie. Michel Giannuzzi (Verallia) lui succédera en 2027.

6. Ebra prépare un plan d’économies. Le groupe de presse régionale (Crédit Mutuel) affiche 9,7 M€ de pertes d’exploitation en 2025. Sophie Gourmelen prépare une plateforme numérique commune, mise sur l’événementiel (Tech & Fest) et a acquis le média tech Clubic. Un plan social se profile.

In English

This edition covers five main stories:

1. Macron’s space summit under pressure. The international space summit, announced in Toulouse in November 2025, will take place July 7-14 in Paris, modeled on the AI Summit at the Grand Palais. A small team led by Space Minister Philippe Baptiste, General Philippe Adam, and Hélène Huby (Way4Space) is organizing the event. Key challenge: Germany is launching its own €35bn satellite constellation (SATCOMBw N4) through OHB and Rheinmetall, directly competing with the European Iris² program. The ILA Berlin air show (June 10-14) risks overshadowing the Paris event. Topics include defense, space exploration, satellite constellations, and international space regulation. The US, India, Japan, and potentially China are invited.

2. Claire Le Flécher to lead Cofrex. The former ambassador to Kuwait replaces Jacques Maire as head of France’s exhibition agency, tasked with managing the French pavilion at the Riyadh 2030 World Expo. This follows tensions with LVMH and the Institut français during Osaka 2025.

3. Smartbox in financial trouble. Pierre-Édouard Stérin’s gift-box company is struggling: revenue down 7% to €203.5M, cash down 36% to €71M, potential liability of €277.5M in unredeemed gift boxes, payment delays to hotel partners, and a wave of senior executive departures. EBITDA stands at €19.2M with a projected 15% decline next year. The Irish-domiciled holding SBG Financial Holding can no longer pay dividends to its Belgian parent.

4. Latour Capital acquires Engie Home Services. The PE fund, allied with Stéphane Caine (Proxiserve), is negotiating the acquisition of Engie’s home maintenance subsidiary (4,500 employees). Plans include rebranding to the former Savelys name, transitioning toward heat pumps, and a commitment to no social plan for 24 months.

5. Engie: Clamadieu extended, Giannuzzi as successor. Jean-Pierre Clamadieu gets a one-year extension as Engie board chairman. Michel Giannuzzi (current Verallia president) will succeed him in 2027.

6. Ebra preparing cost-cutting plan. The regional press group (owned by Crédit Mutuel) posted €9.7M in operating losses in 2025. President Sophie Gourmelen is developing a shared digital platform, investing in events (Tech & Fest), and acquired tech media outlet Clubic. A restructuring plan with potential social implications is on the horizon.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The Rearmament of France at an Impasse

Editorial by Nicolas Baverez — Le Point Hebdo, February 26, 2026

By displaying its differences with Germany, France is repeating its past mistakes and putting Europe in danger.

Faced with the collapse of France, German leaders are no longer holding back their blows, including in the field of defense, which was long taboo. The Foreign Minister, Johann Wadephul, on February 16, deemed the efforts of France to rearm “insufficient,” called on our country to “implement economic savings in the social domain to achieve the central objective of Europe’s defense capability,” and finally ruled out any mutualization of rearmament through European borrowing. This admonition is part of the deep degradation of Franco-German cooperation in defense, punctuated by the abandonment of the future tank in favor of modernizing the Leopard, the announced death of the SCAF, and the formation of a Berlin-Rome axis bypassing Paris. The reprimand from the German minister is, to say the least, misplaced. Germany was in fact the spearhead of Europe’s disarmament after the fall of the Berlin Wall, with investment reduced to 1.36% of GDP between 2000 and 2025. It accumulated a lag of more than 600 billion euros relative to the NATO target of 2% of GDP, which it used for the competitiveness of its businesses. It delegated its security to the United States and maintained this choice despite the latter’s conversion to illiberalism, trusting American companies for its rearmament and substituting dependence on Russian gas with dependence on American LNG.

On substance, however, the warning is well-founded. France is about to miss the train of Europe’s rearmament, locking itself into a fourfold impasse.

Strategic impasse. Emmanuel Macron claimed to position France as a balancing power. But this notion makes no sense in a world governed solely by power dynamics. The display of a global strategy is disconnected from our capabilities and obscures the real threats: Russia to the east — an existential danger reinforced by the alignment of Trump’s America with Moscow, the fragmentation of the West, and the disintegration of NATO; the breakdown of states and Islamist terrorism to the south.

Operational impasse. Four years after the invasion of Ukraine, the French army is incapable of waging high-intensity warfare. The Hedgehog exercise — in Estonia, in May 2025 — demonstrated this, when Ukrainian drone operators pulverized two NATO battalions in less than twenty-four hours. The military programming law for 2024–2030 set itself the objective of “repairing” the expeditionary army model of the 1990s rather than preparing for 21st-century warfare.

French rearmament is a victim of the state’s financial bankruptcy.

Deterrence has become a new Maginot Line that masks the collapse of conventional capabilities. Our armies have neither the mass nor the depth to withstand a war of attrition, nor the technological equipment for technological warfare: space, cyber, drones (3,000 drones will be ordered in 2026 when Ukraine will produce between 7 and 8 million), air defense. Finally, the protection of the population and territory has been neglected, even as civilians constitute the primary target of modern conflicts.

Industrial impasse. French defense companies have become the world’s second-largest arms exporter, but their rise in power is hampered by delays in orders and, even more so, in state payments. Furthermore, France exports very little within Europe, despite the nearly 40% increase in defense spending since 2022.

Financial impasse. French rearmament is a victim of the state’s financial bankruptcy, with debt that will rise to 118.6% of GDP by the end of 2026. Debt servicing will consume 100 billion euros in 2029, while the defense budget will cap at 70 billion in 2030 (compared to 170 billion for Germany).

Paralyzed by the bankruptcy of its public finances, France is on the verge of repeating the errors that led to the terrible defeats of 1870 and 1940. It possesses an autonomous deterrent and combat experience, but finds itself constrained by an obsolete army model. Germany has the financial resources but remains subservient to the United States and has lost the capacity to wage war. There will be neither sovereignty nor security for Europe without refounding the Franco-German core and without a radical aggiornamento of both countries. ●