It is not in the name of “made in France”, but of national sovereignty that Arnaud Montebourg sets off again on the campaign trail. The former Minister of the Economy and Productive Recovery (2012-2014) has just announced his plan to buy, with an investment fund, the company Segault, an SME with 80 employees working for the defense sectors and energy.
Its parent company, the Canadian company Velan, is to be acquired by Flowserve Corporation; Mr. Montebourg is asking the government for a “prohibition” of the transfer to this American multinational, by resorting to the decree of May 2014, which he had brought to Bercy, to establish a prior control of foreign investments in France.
In a letter sent on March 31 to the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, his predecessor judges this operation “heavily prejudicial to the interests of our nation”. The SME based in Essonne provides taps, valves and valves to Naval Group for the boiler room of French nuclear submarines and the Charles-de-Gaulle aircraft carrier, as well as to EDF for its nuclear power plants. The sale to the Americans constitutes, according to him, a threat.
industrial sovereignty
At the end of the USA Patriot Act voted in 2001 after the attacks of September 11, Washington can indeed request any type of information from an American company, and without judicial authorization. Manufacturing secrets are therefore “potentially transmissible” to the authorities, the former minister is alarmed. In addition, the ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) system, which severely regulates the export of military equipment incorporating components, sub-assemblies or software of American origin or license, had created serious problems for Dassault’s Rafale Aviation in Egypt. And the extraterritoriality of its law is a constant threat to businesses.
Mr. Montebourg assures that he has the necessary capital to buy Segault, whose turnover is 15 million euros. In his letter, he specifies that his own company, Les Equipes du Made in France, and the investment company Otium Capital “have joined forces to launch a fund project, the Private Sovereign Fund for Industry and Agriculture”, dedicated to industrial and agricultural sovereignty. It indicates to World that with 200 million euros of investment capacity in 2023, it will be able to quickly mobilize the necessary capital, which will not exceed a few tens of millions of euros.
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