France nationalises shipyard for now to thwart Italian majority

Record ID: 904343

  • Title: France nationalises shipyard for now to thwart Italian majority
  • Date: 27th July 2017
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JULY 27, 2017) (REUTERS) FRENCH ECONOMY MINISTER BRUNO LE MAIRE ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE LE MAIRE STANDING BEHIND PODIUM JOURNALISTS DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH ECONOMY MINISTER BRUNO LE MAIRE SAYING: "The decision of pre-emption we just made is a temporary decision. It should give us the time to negotiate, in the best conditions possible, the participation of Fincantieri in the Saint-Nazaire shipyards in order to build what has always been the project of the president of the republic, of the prime minister - build a solid and ambitious European industrial project." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH ECONOMY MINISTER BRUNO LE MAIRE SAYING: "As you all know, we made an offer to the Italian government to share on an equal basis the responsibilities of those shipyards. We offered to the Italian company, Fincantieri, to take a 50 percent stake in the Saint-Nazaire shipyard while giving them the operational control of the company. This offer as you know was rejected by the Italian government but it is still on the table." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS FRENCH ECONOMY AND FINANCE MINISTRY BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 10th August 2017 16:27
  • Keywords: STX shipyard Italy France nationalisation industry Europe Le Maire
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE/ SAINT-NAZAIRE, FRANCE
  • City: PARIS, FRANCE/ SAINT-NAZAIRE, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016RHUQ13
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: French economy minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Thursday (July 27) France would temporarily nationalise the STX France shipyard to prevent an Italian firm taking majority control.
    The Italian state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri rejected a French offer this week of 50-50 ownership of the shipyard, which is being sold because of the collapse of its South Korean parent, STX.
    The bid has raised fears in France about jobs at the Saint-Nazaire site, and the French government is also concerned about the strategic importance of the yard, the only one in France big enough to build aircraft carriers and other large warships.
    This marks Emmanuel Macron's first big industrial policy decision.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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