by Julien Ponthus, Pamela Barbaglia and Leigh Thomas
PARIS (Reuters) – The French government is expected to launch the process of renationalising EDF by the end of the month, as finalizing the price to buy back securities not already held by the state took a little longer than expected, we learned from three sources familiar with the matter.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance said on July 19 that the government planned to submit a takeover offer at 12 euros per share in early September, but it has still not presented it to the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). , according to the latter.
A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that should be the case “by the end of the month and possibly sooner”.
A finance ministry source declined to provide a precise timetable but said work was continuing with the aim of filing the offer as soon as possible for the 16% stake that the state does not hold.
While EDF has once again revised upwards the financial impact of its electricity production problems, another source familiar with the matter said that there would never be an ideal time to launch the offer but that the project was following its course and that the government intended to act in September.
The shutdown for maintenance or repair of a record number of nuclear reactors this year, the rapid evolution of the regulatory framework and the fact that it is difficult to compare EDF to other companies are among the elements which have made the estimated redemption price, the sources said.
Some EDF shareholders are thus demanding a higher price than that which has been mentioned so far, arguing that it is unfair to make them bear the cost of the decisions taken by the government to protect customers from an outbreak. the price of electricity – measures which have plunged the title of EDF and for which the energy company is claiming 8.3 billion euros in compensation.
The recent filing of a complaint against X by a shareholders’ association denouncing the management of the public group has added a layer of complexity to the process.
This battle of certain minority shareholders to try to obtain a better price had little effect on the share price of the energy company, whose title only crossed the 12 threshold only once and briefly. euros per share since the announcement of the price proposed by the government.
The EDF share has been trading just below 12 euros since July 19.
EDF said Thursday that it had once again revised upwards the estimated impact of the drop in production on its accounts, now estimated at 29 billion euros for the 2022 financial year, against 24 billion euros announced at the end of July. This is the energy company’s fifth profit warning this year.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced on Wednesday that the increase in the price of electricity in France would be capped at 15% in 2023, after 4% in 2022.
(Report Julien Ponthus, Pamela Barbaglia and Leigh Thomas, French version Tangi Salaün, edited by Bertrand Boucey and Sophie Louet)