"Signing by February 15 and completion of the agreement before the presidential elections at the end of April." Words of Christophe Sirugue, undersecretary for French industry, who effectively gives the go-ahead for the purchase, by the Italian group Fincantieri, of 66,6% of the capital of Stx France, the transalpine company (up to now controlled by the Koreans of Stx) which manages the historic plants of Saint Nazaire, in the North West of France.
However, the deal is not without controversy: the unions are on a war footing (construction sites employ 2.600 people in France) and Arnaud Montebourg, exponent of the radical left and candidate in the next presidential elections, has launched the proposal for a nationalization of Stx. Hypothesis immediately rejected by the government, which welcomes the entry of a solid group like Fincantieri (which should invest between 100 and 200 million in the operation), except however to reiterate the need not only to maintain the 33,4 % owned by the State, but also to strengthen the "Frenchness" by including the transalpine shipbuilding company DCNS as a shareholder.
In short, Paris wants to maintain an important position, but not a controlling one: "33% of the state and the participation of DCNS would not in any case make up 50%", added the undersecretary of the government led in recent months of the legislature by Bernard Cazeneuve. However, Sirigue himself, visiting the shipyards last week, had tried to reassure the local authorities and the unions by stating that "Fincantieri's share will not necessarily exceed 50%". An unrealistic scenario in any case, given that the other major competitor that had initially expressed interest in Stx France, the Chinese Genting Hong Kong, later withdrew its offer.
