Current holders of energy giant EDF’s shares have made a 53 percent gain on the French government’s plan to nationalize the company. Among them is the popular Czech investor Michal Semotan from J&T.
French government is offering 12 euros per share for the purchase of the remaining 16 percent stake in the energy company EDF, announced the French Ministry of Finance. Compared at the July 5 price, the day before the government announced plans to re-nationalize the firm, that represents a premium of about 53 percent. The purchase of the entire share will thus cost the government 9.7 billion euros (237.7 billion crowns). For example, the popular Czech investor Michal Semotan from J&T, who described the transaction on Twitter, will profit from the French move.
EDF is one of the largest energy companies in Europe. It is also at the center of France’s nuclear strategy, which the government is counting on to cushion the effects of a sharp rise in energy prices, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. The government came up with a plan to fully nationalize EDF almost 20 years after the company was famously listed on the stock exchange.
The EDF stock rally is over. Trading is suspended until the government specifies the terms of the nationalization
Trading in shares of energy company EDF has been suspended, according to a Reuters source from the Ministry of Finance.
Inspiration for CEZ?
EDF is heavily in debt, struggling with outages at its aging nuclear plants, and construction of new reactors is delayed and becoming more expensive. It also bears the brunt of government measures to protect households from rising energy costs.
The French government announced in early July that it plans to nationalize EDF again to gain more control over the reorganization of the indebted group as Europe grapples with an energy crisis. The company is also now looking for a new director. The current director, 67-year-old Jean-Bernard Lévy, has been at the head of the company since 2014 and is due to leave by March next year. The task of the new boss will be the reorganization and modernization of the company and the construction of new nuclear reactors.
The development of the EDF share price is also interesting for Czech investors who own shares of the Czech semi-state energy company ČEZ. The government in Prague announced last month that it was considering dividing the company into a private and a state part, but it has not yet stated under what financial conditions it would take such a step.
The French already know, Fiala is still just consulting. CEZ’s restructuring plan will be within a year
The government should prepare a restructuring plan for the state energy company ČEZ by the middle of next year. Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) told Reuters. But he did not give details. In his televised speech in June, he announced that the state wants to control the entire network of domestic key power plants, i.e. its own electricity production, in the near future. And while Petr Fiala’s government is still deliberating on this, the French report that they are indeed going to nationalize the energy giant EDF.
video
Tomáš Zima: I have the ability to bring people together, connect them. And I’ve never done curves
In the second part of the Kafe with the President series, we present an interview with the former rector of Charles University Tomáš Zima. At the age of fifty-six, he has already spent eight years at the head of Charles University, the largest and most important domestic university. He is crowned with titles such as Prof, MUDr, MBA, DrSc. and several others. It is impossible to count how many organizations he holds important positions in.
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