France to detail EDF nationalisation plan by July 19, shares suspended

The French government will announce by July 19 details of its plans to take full control of power group EDF, the finance ministry said on Wednesday, as trading in the shares of the utility were suspended until further notice. France said last week it wanted to take full control of EDF, in which the state already holds an 84% stake, without explaining how it would do so.

The French government will announce by July 19 details of its plans to take full control of power group EDF, the finance ministry said on Wednesday, as trading in the shares of the utility was suspended until further notice.

France said last week it wanted to take full control of EDF, in which the state already holds an 84% stake, without explaining how it would do so. The government said on Wednesday it would clarify plans by the morning of July 19 at the latest. A finance ministry source said the suspension of EDF shares, which was requested by the company, was temporary and trading would resume once the government had made clear how it would fully nationalize the utility.

Taking EDF fully back under state control would give the government greater license to restructure the debt-laden group while contending with a European energy crisis. EDF has been grappling with extraordinary outages at its nuclear fleet, delays and cost overruns in building new reactors and power tariff caps imposed by the government to shield French consumers from soaring electricity prices.

Two sources told Reuters this week that the government was poised to pay more than 8 billion euros ($8.03 billion) and up to 10 billion euros to buy the 16% stake it did not already own. EDF and the French economy ministry declined to comment on the Reuters report.

EDF shares have risen 30% since July 5, the day before the nationalization announcement. They closed at 10.2250 euros on Tuesday. ($1 = 0.9964 euros)

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