2023-05-02 17:22:22
The Paris Court of Appeal decided on Tuesday to reject the appeal in the case of the renationalization of EDF, announced the government. For months, small shareholders have been opposing the state, in particular because of the share buyback price deemed too low.
During the hearing before the court on March 23, the public prosecutor’s office had requested the rejection of the appeal filed by the rebellious small shareholders of the energy giant. The latter challenge the compliance decision issued by the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) in November 2022. It had given the green light to the State to launch this takeover bid (public purchase offer).
The complete takeover, announced in July last year and costing 9.7 billion euros, is strategic for the state shareholder, which already held 84% of the national electric flagship before the takeover. Its goal: to free EDF from the stock market to allow it to relaunch nuclear energy more quickly by financing the renewal of an aging fleet, at a time when Russian gas is lacking. The government wanted to complete everything by the end of 2022.
“The worst year that EDF has known since its creation in 1946”
The main bone of contention is the price of 12 euros per share at which the State has decided to buy back from the shareholders the shares it lacks to fully control the electrician. The plaintiffs demanded at least 15 euros. At the opening of the capital in 2005, the action had been sold for 32 euros, with a 20% discount for employees at 25.60 euros.
The price of 12 euros has been validated by the report of an independent expert. But small shareholders believe that the company is undervalued and that it has been unfairly penalized in its revenues by a state-imposed mechanism, the Arenh, forcing it to sell its nuclear electricity at low prices to manufacturers and alternative suppliers. EDF has also had to juggle its corrosion problems in the reactors which have caused its production to drop in 2022 and increased its financial losses.
“The decision to renationalize was taken in the worst year that EDF has known since its creation in 1946”, noted in particular at the hearing Florent Segalen, the lawyer for the employee and retired shareholders of EDF. “The decision of the AMF is perfectly in accordance with the regulations”, had hammered for his part the French stock market policeman represented by Patricia Choquet, recalling that the college of the AMF met “three times” to support its decision.
In the end, a certain number of shareholders accepted the price proposed by the State, and on February 8, the latter held “at the provisional closing of the offer” 95.82% of the capital and 96.53% voting rights.
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