2023-05-02 10:08:07
The Paris Court of Appeal has rejected the appeal filed by minority shareholders against the 100% renationalisation of EDF, paving the way for the finalization of the operation desired by the government, the Ministry of the Economy announced on Tuesday. and finance in a press release. “The Paris Court of Appeal rejected the appeal filed against the compliance decision issued by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers in the context of the simplified public tender offer initiated by the State”announced Bercy in this press release.
During the hearing before the Paris Court of Appeal 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, which had given its approval to the State to launch this public takeover bid (OPA).
After this decision, the AMF immediately announced the reopening of the public tender offer process launched by the State to renationalise the energy company. This last step, before the final closing of the operation, was planned and will allow the holders of EDF shares to sell, between May 4 and May 17, their shares to the French State.
The complete takeover, announced in July and costing 9.7 billion euros, is strategic for the state shareholder, which already held 84% of the national electric flagship. Its goal: to free EDF from the stock market to allow it to revive nuclear power more quickly by financing the renewal of the aging fleet, while Russian gas is lacking.
The action at 12 euros
The government wanted to complete everything by the end of 2022. For months, the small salaried and retired shareholders of EDF have however multiplied the appeals. Main bone of contention, the price of the action, at 12 euros, at which the State has decided to buy back from the shareholders the titles which it lacks to fully control the electrician. This price was considered too low by the plaintiffs, who claim at least 15 euros per share. 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.
This price of 12 euros has been validated by the report of an independent expert, but the small shareholders believe that the company is undervalued and that it has been unfairly penalized in its revenues by a mechanism imposed by the State, the Arenh, forcing it to sell its nuclear electricity at low prices to industrialists and other suppliers. And EDF had to juggle the problems of corrosion in the reactors, which caused its production to fall in 2022 and widened its financial losses.
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