France to buy shipyard stake

PARIS: France stepped in yesterday to prevent the loss of jobs to Asia with a plan to buy back up to a third of the shipyard that built the Queen Mary 2, saying its national interests were at stake.

Echoing the protectionism of his predecessor, President Nicolas Sarkozy's government said it had acted to protect the loss of crucial marine skills after Chantiers de l'Atlantique fell under South Korean control.

The government said it would buy nine per cent of the shipyard from Norway's Aker Yards, which bought 75pc from French engineering firm Alstom in 2006, and would have right of first refusal over Alstom's remaining 25pc.

The resulting 34pc stake would give the government an effective blocking minority over key decisions from 2010.

It said it had struck the deal directly with the Norwegian company's new owners, South Korea's STX Shipbuilding, which bought a 39pc stake in Aker Yards last year.

In Oslo, Aker Yards said it was unaware of the plan. We are surprised to learn through the media that the French government has announced that they intend to buy a total of 34pc of the shares in Aker Yards France based on a dialogue with STX, chairman Svein Sivertsen said.

A French government official said the value of the initial 9pc stake to be bought by the government would be set by experts by October but predicted it would be no more than some tens of millions of euros.

Source: www.gulf-daily-news.com