The agreement on the Fincantieri-Stx operation is now one step away. After months of friction and controversial nationalization, the French have apparently decided to grant the Italian group control of the company that manages the Saint Nazaire shipyards. Paris would therefore be willing to cede on the only condition that the government in Rome has always considered indispensable, but the solution identified would in any case provide for strengthened powers and guarantees in the board of directors and in the strategy for the French public shareholder. The indiscretion was released today by the Republic. At the end of the morning the title of Fincantieri earns 3,8%, to 1,078 euros.
The first step of the alliance of the seas could already arrive next Wednesday during the bilateral summit in Lyon between Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and French President Emmanuel Macron. But, in fact, it is only a first step.
The agreement on Saint Nazaire is part of a much broader negotiation in which Paris has no intention of playing a subordinate role. The ultimate goal is the merger between Fincantieri and the French giant Naval Group. If the deal goes through, the Stx France shipyards would become just one asset within a group with an annual turnover of around 9 billion euros, capable of competing for the most important orders worldwide both in the civilian and military.
However, it will not be a short deal. Compared to what has been hypothesized for weeks, the parties no longer seem willing to proceed immediately with an agreement on all civilian and military ships. It seems that now the aim is to close first of all the agreement on the civil component only, linked mainly to the segment of the construction of cruise ships. It is too complex to immediately understand the military, which as is known also calls into question other actors: Thales, in France, shareholder of Naval Group, and Leonardo in Italy.
