Electricite de France (EDF) SA and the French government yesterday said the process of finding a new CEO for the power utility has begun, a day after the government announced its plan to fully renationalize the debt-laden power giant.
“The state and Jean-Bernard Levy have agreed to launch the succession process from now,” the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, which manages the state’s 84 percent stake in EDF, said in a statement.
EDF confirmed the decision, adding in a separate statement that CEO Levy, whose term officially ends next year, was prepared to step down as soon as a successor is found.
Photo: Reuters
Asked on the ideal profile for the top job at EDF, French Minister of the Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire said he was looking for somebody with a “sense for compromise,” referring to EDF’s need to navigate in a highly regulated environment while working with the utility’s strong unions.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Wednesday announced plans to fully nationalize EDF in a move that would give the government more control over restructuring the debt-laden group while contending with a European energy crisis.
Le Maire yesterday rejected criticism that the government was nationalizing the company at a time when it is likely to incur massive losses, hit by energy price caps and years of delays on new nuclear plants in France and Britain, with budget overruns in the billions of euros.
“I deeply believe in EDF’s future,” Le Maire said.
French Minister of Public Action and Accounts Gabriel Attal earlier said it was too early to estimate the full nationalization of EDF.
“This will depend on the company’s shares,” Attal said, referring to the approximately 15 percent of the company traded on the stock market.
Buying the shares the government does not already own at current prices would cost about 5 billion euros (US$5.1 billion).
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