The government “will put a veto” to oppose “a loss of operational control” of the French SME Segault, supplier for the nuclear industry coveted by an American group, announced the Minister of the Armies Sébastien Lecornu Tuesday at the Assembly.
During the debates on the military planning bill, the minister mentioned, without giving details, a device which makes it possible to block a certain number of foreign investments in France in strategic sectors.
The Segault company, a company critical for the Minister of Armies, is not intended to come under the operational control of the American group Flowserve, insisted the minister, contacted by AFP.
The minister responded to MP RN Laurent Jacobelli, author of an amendment, rejected, on protection against acts of predation and foreign interference in companies involved in the national defense industry.
194 foreign investment projects refused
Segault, based near Paris and which indicates on its site to employ 80 employees, notably supplies Naval Group, a French naval defense manufacturer, the fittings for the boiler rooms which equip French nuclear submarines.
Cantor of made in France, the former minister Arnaud Montebourg had asked the government on April 11 to prohibit the takeover of Velan, a company under Canadian law, parent company of Segault, by the American group Flowserve Corporation.
The government had then expressed its vigilance for a strategic company by mentioning the procedure for controlling foreign investment.
Mr. Lecornu’s announcement was welcomed in the Chamber, including by LFI Aurlien Saintoul. A total of 194 foreign investment projects in a series of sectors considered sensitive failed in 2022, while the Ministry of the Economy authorized 131 of them, more than half of them with conditions likely to guarantee their preservation. national interests.