Paris (Platts)--31Aug2007
Areva's ownership structure is being debated in France, following a
statement August 30 by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that France's nuclear
enterprises must be "given the resources to develop."
On August 31, Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon said that "Areva's development
needs major resources, [and] a change in capital [equity structure] appears
the best solution." She added, during a conference call with journalists and
analysts, that Areva's future is up to the government, its majority
shareholder. On the same day, the financial daily Les Echos published a
confidential note to the government from Alain Bugat, head of the Commissariat
a l'Energie Atomique, which owns almost 80% of Areva stock. The note outlined
possible scenarios for the nuclear group's future ownership. The first
scenario sees continuation as a "stand-alone" group, with Siemens being
obliged to swap its 34% of Areva NP for 8% of the parent company Areva. The
second sees Bouygues taking a 34% stake in Areva NP and several important
energy companies -- including Siemens, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and
Electricite de France -- taking shares in the parent company; the state would
remain majority owner. The third scenario sees merger of Areva with Alstom,
with the state retaining majority interest only in "strategic" activities
(fuel cycle, mainly). In that case, Siemens would have to sell out, and would
be replaced by MHI, according to Bugat's scenarios. Areva and Siemens have a
"put and call" arrangement governing Siemens' divestiture of its 34% stake in
Areva NP. That Siemens put is valued on Areva's books at 1.117 billion euros,
unchanged since last year.