French appeals court clears govt's buyout of EDF (updated)

Electricite de France SA

02/05/2023 09:46

(Adds offer to be reopened for 10 days, background)
       PARIS, May 2 (Reuters) - A French appeals court rejected
on Tuesday a complaint filed by minority shareholders against
the terms of a government buyout of power giant EDF  EDF.PA ,
paving the way for a full nationalisation of the company.
    The court of appeals "rejected all of the plaintiffs'
demands," according to a document summarizing the ruling seen by
Reuters.
        The head of the association for the defense of minority
shareholders, which had filed the complaint saying the offered
buyout price of 12 euros per share was too low, declined to
comment, saying time was needed to fully understand the decision
and possible legal options. 
  
        EDF declined to comment.
  
        The government last year launched a buyout for the
shares it did not already own in EDF with the aim to delist it,
stumping up around 10 billion euros ($10.9 billion) to take full
control of the debt-laden group as part of a long-term nuclear
energy strategy that includes building at least six new
reactors.
  
        The group slumped to a record net loss of 17.9 billion
euros in 2022, hammered by an unprecedented number of outages at
its reactors.
  
        The French state currently owns 95.82% of the share
capital and at least 96.53% of the voting rights of EDF, but the
offer was put on hold by the minority shareholders' lawsuit.
    The government has pledged to reopen the tender offer for 10
trading days before initiating squeeze-out proceedings.
        
  
    

 (Reporting by America Hernandez, editing by Silvia Aloisi)
 ((America.Hernandez@thomsonreuters.com;))