TotalEnergies CEO Plans to Leave Paris Stock Exchange for New York – What Does This Mean?

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Patrick Pouyanné, the head of TotalEnergies, plans to leave the Paris stock exchange for New York. Seriously, what will this change?

In an interview with Bloomberg on Friday April 26, CEO said Total energy, Patrick Pouyannéhe raised the idea of ​​moving the company’s main listing to the New York Stock Exchange, considered more favorable to investments in hydrocarbons. Currently, most of the oil group’s stock market transactions take place on the Paris Stock Exchange, where it represents the fourth capitalization behind the luxury giants. “We are facing a situation where European shareholders are sellers or holding steady, while American shareholders are buyers. So what would be more practical for American shareholders? Do they prefer stocks that have a major listing in New York or Europe? I believe that when you ask the question, you have the answer», explained the businessman, in response to the American financial press.

The opportunity for him to pitch a tool to European investors that shows “cold» regarding the group’s strategy, which includes continuing to invest in fossil fuels to finance the transition to low carbon energy. “In Europe, instead of supporting European companies that want to make this transition, even if it’s difficult, they look at us and say: look, you keep oil and gas extraction.“, he emphasized.

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Most of the group’s capital is American

This speech did not take long to provoke a response. Guest on BFMTV this Thursday morning, Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Economy and Finance, against this idea. “We need Total“, and”assets to France“, especially if oil or energy prices rise, Bercy’s boss justified himself. “It is important to keep Total, to keep Total’s headquarters in France, and for Total’s main list to stay in France. (…) I will fight for that, because it is the best interest of the French“, he assured.

What would change that? In reality, not much. “The former national flagship TotalEnergies continues to evolve into a leading American corporation», summarizes Maroun Eddé, the author of the work Destruction of the State. Way to remind us that TotalEnergies hasn’t been French for a long time. Because European shareholders are now a minority in the group’s capital. The ESG and ISR ecological standards, which apply to Europeans, discourage them from investing in fossil fuels, and lead them to sell their shares in TotalEnergies.

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Revealing European contradictions

At the same time, the Americans, much less self-conscious about the issue of hydrocarbons, are still consumers. As a result, half of the capital of the so-called main company is now held across the Atlantic. The main shareholder is the American BlackRock (asset management), which has 6.5% of the capital. “So leaving the CAC 40 would not be a revolution in itself, but a confirmation of a revolution that has already begun but has passed largely in silence.», mourns the essayist Maroun Eddé. And as a symbol of the progressive loss of the French presence in strategic sectors.

Next step: moving the group’s headquarters outside of France? If Patrick Pouyanné argued otherwise, the interest in keeping him in France now could appear weak, or even zero. But be careful about the consequences of the announcement, because this exit of the manager could not be the result of chance: last week, Bruno Le Maire announced that a tax re- active implementation of the purchase of shares from this year, widely used by TotalEnergies. Last year, the oil giant bought 8.2 billion euros of shares, or 27% of the share purchases made by French companies. In addition, Patrick Pouyanné was heard on Monday by a senatorial commission led by the ecologist Yannick Jadot. For four months, this commission has been aiming to identify the methods used by TotalEnergies to honor its climate commitments.