The state calls on banks to help a bloodless Areva – The World

When politics is invited in industrial cases, this does not always mix. So Areva would unveil its accounts for the year 2015 before the opening of trading Thursday, February 25, the nuclear group was forced to postpone publication of twenty-four hours. Reason? French banks were shot ear to grant a bridging loan of 1.1 billion euros in the giant tricolor

According to several sources the State. – Which owns 86.5% of Areva – demanded at the last minute that this sum is no longer repaid in January 2017, as planned, but in June. Or after the presidential election. “We had to give our reply before 7 am Thursday morning. We refused the postponement of the deadline “ says one banker, still stunned by the maneuver.

A night of intense negotiations

L State finally backed down on this requirement, after a night of hard negotiations, conducted by the Agency for state participation (EPA). Societe Generale, Credit Agricole, BNP Paribas, Natixis, Credit Mutuel and HSBC agreed to extend this funding in the early morning on Thursday, but the directors of Areva preferred to ensure that the “Technical documentation” had been signed before validate accounts. Sign ambient nervousness on this issue

Read also:. Struggling for years, Areva is obliged to open its capital

This emergency loan is vital to allow Areva to spend 2016 years when it has to repay nearly 1 billion euros of bonds, which mature in September. But the sale of the group of reactors (Areva NP) to EDF for € 2.5 billion and the capital increase of 5 billion euros promised by the government will not intervene before this deadline. Without this emergency funding, Areva therefore risked insolvency by the end of 2016 and the auditors would not have been able ensure “the going” the company, a key concept in order to stop the financial statements.

“It’s been several weeks for us to discuss and we would end up in time, but the state asked Tuesday to review the terms of the loan relay “

All this is identified for months. And the date of the financial statements of Areva was known. “It’s been several weeks for us to discuss and we would arrive on time, but the state asked Tuesday to review the terms of the bridge loan” , tells one of the protagonists. bombshell, the EPA has required banks to revise their funding conditions, considered too expensive ( “almost usurious” , insists a close case). What they did, a little. The incarnation of the shareholder State – under the joint supervision of Emmanuel Macron, the economy minister, and Michel Sapin, the finance – also said that the state no longer wished to engage in letter to proceed with a capital increase, guarantee required by banks

Read also:. Areva: “the world needs nuclear”

Paris with slow to notify the European Commission of its bailout of Areva, which would fall under the procedure of state aid, the french government finds very embarrassed the armholes on this component. “France has long hoped that its support for Areva would be considered that of a prudent investor. Nothing is less sure, “, said one expert.

Suspension of the listing of Areva Thursday

Last, finally, the Manuel Valls government would prefer that banks inherit mistigri Areva until the presidential elections. History not see his last months of polluted mandate by the file …

The announcement of the postponement of the results led to a suspension of listing of Areva title at the Paris Stock Exchange on Thursday morning and the postponement of the meeting of financial analysts and investors expected the company headquarters of Defense in the afternoon

See also:. Emmanuel Macron wants to end the quagmire of the Finnish EPR

for months, the questions multiply on the rebound capabilities of the new Areva, now refocused on the fuel cycle (mining and enrichment of uranium, radioactive waste treatment, decommissioning) after selling its reactor manufacturing business to EDF.

the Finnish nightmare

with this ongoing sale, the group will see its wing to reduce both its workforce fell from 42 000 to 20 000 employees worldwide, for sales, reduced from 8.3 to 5 billion euros. However, its debt now exceeds 6 billion, remains overwhelming after 8 billion in accumulated losses in five years, and is probably still dig in 2015.

The needs of financing, which were estimated at 7 billion euros for the next three years, should be revised upwards. Particularly to take account of the setbacks encountered on Finnish construction of the EPR reactor Olkiluoto (OL3)

Read also:. Emmanuel Macron wants to end the quagmire of the Finnish EPR

This project is the nightmare of Areva for almost ten years. 20 January, Mr Macron had given one month to Areva and its Finnish customer TVO for “find the conditions for an agreement or a way out” to the conflict between the construction EPR. The Finn claimed 2.6 billion euros, while the French asked 3.4 billion. The output of this conflict depends on the restructuring of the French sector of nuclear power.