Fincantieri, who mumbles in France about the sale of Chantiers de l’Atlantique
The sale of Chantiers de l'Atlantique (ex Stx) to Fincantieri is still on stand-by. In the meantime, a Senate report arrives from Paris to sound the alarm about the sale of the shipyards of Saint-Nazaire
Fincantieri is still awaiting the ok to purchase 50% of the Chantiers de l'Atlantique (formerly Stx France).
On October 31, the Trieste group's offer to buy back the shipyards of Saint-Nazaire expires. Meanwhile, the chairman of the French Senate Economic Affairs Committee has warned about the risks of technology transfers to China, a partner of the potential buyer. This was reported by the French newspaper Le Parisien .
Not only that, Fincantieri's offer for Stx is also awaiting (still) the approval of the EU antitrust.
In fact, last October the European Commission launched an in-depth investigation to evaluate the proposed acquisition of Chantiers de l'Atlantique by Fincantieri in the light of the EU merger regulation, following requests from the governments of Paris and Berlin.
For the French, Chantiers de l'Atlantique should remain nationalized for a while, given that Europe also seems to want to oppose the marriage with Fincantieri.
As reiterated by the Paris Senate commission, France should think more than ever about how to maintain its flagships to maintain and develop production on the national territory.
All the details.
THE PERPLESSITIES OF THE FRENCH SENATE
"The Covid-19 pandemic has put the issues of economic sovereignty and technology transfer back at the center of the debate, perhaps we are about to commit a serious strategic mistake regarding our industry". Sophie Primas, president of the Senate Economic Affairs Commission, said on the occasion of the presentation, Wednesday, October 28, of the report on the planned sale of Chantiers de l'Atlantique to Fincantieri, as reported by Le Parisien .
“Saint-Nazaire, with its 3,300 employees, is a place of excellence in shipbuilding,” recalled another senator. The sites “allow us to position ourselves in the leading group of the world's leading cruise ship builders, but also of military ships”.
THE FEARS OF PARIS
In February 2018, Fincantieri signed an agreement for the sale of 50% of Chantiers de l'Atlantique (84.3% state-owned) with the French State.
As the French daily notes, “this future acquisition could offer a gateway to its more dangerous competitor, the Chinese giant China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). Since 2016, a partnership with the latter has in fact allowed Fincantieri to build liners directly on its shipyards in Shanghai, on behalf of American Carnival, the world's leading cruise company. Therefore, a transfer of technologies, civil but also military, to Asia is to be feared ”.
AND THOSE OF THE EU ANTITRUST
In addition to the fears of the transfer of national sovereignty by France, the fears of Brussels also weigh on the sale of the former STX.
Last June, Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition, announced the reasons for the interruption of the investigation into the agreement. One of the reasons for stopping the probe was linked to the Covid-19 crisis. The other was linked to the difficulties encountered by European regulators "in understanding what the fallout will be, what the market results will be after that case".
From that moment on, the dossier has therefore stopped at the table of the EU commission.
Furthermore, Fincantieri risks not obtaining the green light from the European Antitrust for its offer to acquire the French shipyards due to the difficulties in offering concessions that eliminate the problems linked to competition.
In fact, the EU antitrust authorities fear that the agreement between two world leaders in a market that is already concentrated and limited by capacity could drive up the prices of cruise ships.
THE PROJECT OF A EUROPEAN CHAMPION OF THE ITALIAN-GUIDED SHIPYARD
Since April 2017, after winning the tender for the acquisition of Stx (66% owned by the Koreans of Stx Offshore & Shipbuilding), Fincantieri has had a decidedly uphill road.
For the group led by Giuseppe Bono, the agreement represents an opportunity to create a European industrial champion in the shipbuilding sector to better compete with Asian and other regional rivals.
THE CONCERNS ABOUT THE FINCANTIERI-CHANTIERS DE L'ATLANTIQUE AGREEMENT
But in France they do not seem to think so, on the contrary, the project for the largest shipyard in Europe under Italian leadership raises many concerns. "It is expected that Fincantieri will hold 50% of Chantiers de l'Atlantique and that the French state will lend it an additional 1%, in order to guarantee operational control of the site," a government source told Le Parisien. “A quota that could be withdrawn at any time if the Italian producer does not keep his commitments, or if the site is threatened. This offers a number of guarantees. "
WHAT BONO HAD SAID
“Europe must do more to pursue that unity of purpose and vision which would allow it to defend its excellence and compete on equal terms with East and West. Fincantieri won a historic order assigned by the US Navy in the middle of the pandemic, I would like to think that it can be considered a European success if we had a common defense industry ”. In June, the group's CEO, Giuseppe Bono, declared in an interview with La Stampa about the failure of the EU Antitrust to pronounce on the acquisition of the former Stx France shipyards.
NAVIRIS JV LAUNCHED
“For example, Naviris fits into this perspective – recalled Bono – the joint venture with the French partners of Naval Group. In China we are the only global player to impose our naval technology, and not to suffer it. The French shipyards had passed under Korean hands, but today they could be guided and further strengthened by Italian, and therefore European, hands “.
In fact, in January the Naviris joint venture for the military sector was launched, between Fincantieri and Naval Group , shareholder of 11.7% of the Saint-Nazaire site.
“This allows us to pool part of the supply and research and development,” explained a Naval Group executive in Le Parisien. “But also to respond jointly to international calls for tenders”. Yet the merger that appears to be working for defense is not sailing for the civilian sector at the moment.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/fincantieri-chi-borbotta-in-francia-sulla-vendita-di-chantiers-de-latlantique/ on Thu, 29 Oct 2020 14:00:53 +0000.