The French government has divested a 4.56% stake of Engie. The transaction took two forms: first, an "accelerated institutional placement" of 99.9 million Engie shares, representing 4.1% of the share capital, at a price of €13.80 per share. This price is slightly lower than the closing price of the Engie share at the Paris Stock Exchange on 5 September 2017, which was posted at €13.97. At the same time, the State sold 11.1 million shares (0.46% of the share capital) directly to Engie at the same unit price, for roughly €1.53bn.
As a result, the State's interest will be reduced down to 24.1% of the capital and 27.6% of the voting rights. The law obliges the State to hold at least one third of the voting rights of Engie's capital, with a possible derogation for a period limited to two years. Thanks to the dual voting system introduced by the Florange law of 2014, the State can continue to own one third of the voting rights even when holding less than one third of the capital.
The French government is looking forward to sell off assets in several public companies so that it can set up a €10bn fund to finance innovation. Other divestments are expected in the months to come.
The French Agence des participations de l'État (APE), which is responsible for managing the assets of the State, is present in the capital of 81 companies. In January 2017, the French State already divested a 4.1% stake in Engie (about 100 million shares, valued at €1.14bn), thus reducing its participation down to 28.7% of the capital and 32.6% of the voting rights. The operation was intended to finance the bailout of the nuclear sector and in particular the State's increase in Areva's capital.