Le Monde News

A French judge on Wednesday placed tycoon Vincent Bollore under formal investigation over allegations his company undercharged for work on behalf of presidential candidates in two African nations in return for port contracts.Bollore's company, Groupe Bollore, announced the decision by Judge Serge Tournaire, which came after Bollore had been questioned for two days by French fraud police.Bollore, whose logistics empire is a powerhouse in former French colonies across West Africa…

The French and Italian governments have agreed on a shared ownership deal of the STX France shipyards, but with a clause giving France the right to take control if needed, Le Monde newspaper reported. Le Monde reported, citing an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, that Italian company Fincantieri could get 51 percent ownership, including a 1 percentage point stake lent to it by France, which France could take back. Italian state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri declined to comment. Fincantieri had agreed in May to pay 79.5 million euros ($93.43 million) for a majority stake in STX France, which is being sold following the collapse of South Korean parent STX.

The French state is considering nationalising the Saint-Nazaire shipyards before selling it to new investors if no deal can be reached with Italian shipbuilding group Fincantieri, Le Monde newspaper said on Friday. Shipbuilders MSC and Royal Caribbean have already expressed an interest, the newspaper said. State-owned Fincantieri has made a bid for STX France, which specialises in building cruise ships at France's Saint-Nazaire shipyard. The sale forms part of a broader sell-off of businesses following the demise of the South Korea's STX shipbuilding group. However, completion of the deal has been delayed as the French government has made clear it does not want Fincantieri alone to hold more than 50 percent of STX…

Dutch group Damen shipyards and Italian group Fincantieri are the two potential buyers that have emerged for STX France, a shipyard subsidiary of the struggling South Korean group STX Corp, French daily Le Monde said on Thursday. "Two foreign candidates, Italy's Fincantieri and Holland's Damen are fighting over the last big French company of the (shipyard) sector," Le Monde said, citing several sources. On Wednesday a French finance ministry source said two potential buyers had emerged for STX France.

Eurotunnel reluctantly sold to its subsidiary, the Calais-to-Dover ferry business, MyFerryLink the Danish DFDS, the competitor of the Channel Tunnel reports Le Monde. The company is a forced seller of the service because of antitrust action. It said it had wanted to sell the business to a workers' cooperative, SCOP SeaFrance, rather than to DFDS. "The group, regretting that SeaFrance SCOP did not have the necessary support to make a takeover offer, ads engaging accept the tender submitted by DFDS for leasing ships Berlioz and Rodin," the group said in a statement. On January 9, the British appellate court for Competition (Competition Appeal Tribunal) upheld the position of the authority of the British competition (competition and markets authority…

Poland's foreign minister urged France on Tuesday to cancel a 1.2 billion euro ($1.66 billion) contract to sell Mistral helicopter carriers to Russia, saying these would be used to threaten east European nations. The United States and some European partners have been urging Paris to reconsider its supply of high-tech military hardware to Moscow following Russian action in Ukraine, including its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in March. Asked if France should deliver the two vessels, Radoslaw Sikorski told Le Monde newspaper: "No, because Russian generals have already said what these ships will be used for: to threaten Russia's neighbors in the Black Sea and that means Europe's partners.

This year’s IMUA Annual Meeting’s keynote address will feature a presentation by Dan North, Chief Economist for Euler Hermes North America. Addressing attendees of the 83rd Annual Meeting, he plans to discuss what lies ahead for both the US and global economies and how it is impacted by monetary and fiscal policies. The 83rd IMUA Annual Meeting will be held May 19-22, 2013 at the Intercontinental Hotel in the Atlanta, GA suburb of Buckhead. Mr. North has been with Euler Hermes North America (EHNA) since 1996, using macroeconomic and quantitative analyses to help manage EHNA’s risk portfolio of more than $150 billion in annual U.S. trade transactions.