(With “no comment” from the AMF, analyst comment)
PARIS, July 13 (Reuters) – EDF announced on Wednesday that it had requested the suspension of the listing of its shares until further notice following announcements by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on a renationalisation of the company and after exchanges with the Financial Markets Authority (AMF).
The group will not make any other communication on this subject until the publication by the State of a press release, he adds.
The State will specify its intentions concerning the capital of the energy company no later than July 19, said Bercy for its part.
The AMF said it would not comment on specific files.
Elisabeth Borne announced on July 6 in her general policy speech in Parliament a project to renationalize 100% of EDF, in order to allow it to undertake “ambitious” projects, such as the renewal of the national nuclear fleet, while the urope is faced with soaring energy prices and the risk of shortages linked in particular to the halt in deliveries of Russian natural gas.
The State currently owns 83.9% of EDF, whose stock market value has jumped 30.35% since this announcement to reach 38.2 billion euros. The shares of minority shareholders thus represent a total amount of just over six billion euros.
The action, which closed at 10.225 euros on Tuesday, is however still worth less than a third of its IPO price in 2005 (32 euros).
Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday that the government would have to shell out more than eight billion euros to take full control of the company.
The cost of this redemption could however reach nearly 10 billion euros taking into account the convertible bonds in circulation and a premium compared to current market prices, indicated one of the sources.
“We are close to the decision on the buyout price for minority shareholders, so it seems logical that there is a suspension of trading”, commented Wednesday Antoine Fraysse-Soulier, head of market analysis at eToro in Paris. .
“If the State plans to devote 10 billion to nationalization, we have a ‘theoretical’ share price of around 13 euros, i.e. a premium of around 30%”, he added while stressing that “for historical and long-term shareholders, it is a losing operation”.
“The fact that there is a 30% premium does not seem unreasonable given the stock market history, but it will still materialize a loss of 50% to 60%.”
According to the newspaper Les Echos, which quotes a source familiar with the matter, a “committee of experts” should soon be appointed to define the “fair price” of EDF shares, the government wishing to complete the takeover operation in October. or November.
“This aligns with our analysis: time is of the essence, both for the government and for minority shareholders, and both parties would prefer to see a speedy resolution,” JPMorgan said in a note.
“We expect the nationalization to take place through a voluntary offer, the terms of which may be known in the coming days/weeks: the government may want to offer a premium sufficient to avoid legal challenges and delays that result for the offer.” (Report Marc Angrand, Tangi Salaün and Leigh Thomas, edited by Matthieu Protard and Kate Entringer)