Former Minister Arnaud Montebourg calls on the government on Tuesday to “ban” the takeover by an American group of the French company Segault, a supplier for the French nuclear industry. He says he is ready to acquire it through an alliance with an investment fund.
The company Segault, based near Paris and which indicates on its site to employ 80 employees, supplies in particular to Naval Group, a French naval defense manufacturer, the valves for the nuclear boiler rooms which equip the national nuclear submarines.
Its parent company, the Canadian company Velan, “is preparing to be acquired by OPA by Flowserve Corporation, an American multinational company”, indicates Arnaud Montebourg, cantor of made in France, in a letter addressed to the Minister of the Economy. and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, dated March 31, which AFP was able to consult.
Segault “is one of those sensitive companies in France within the Defense Industrial and Technological Base (BITD)”. The company “equips all our nuclear-powered military buildings, its activities are essential to national defense”, and “in addition, it equips all our nuclear power plants”, highlights Arnaud Montebourg.
“It appears seriously prejudicial to the interests of our nation” that Segault “pass under the control of Flowserve Corporation […] We cannot accept that information concerning the technologies used by our nuclear submarines are potentially transferable to a foreign government”, he wrote, referring to the Patriot Act.
This American law “allows the American government to request from any American company, without any judicial authorization or the slightest motivation, any information within the framework of unilateral and uncontrolled investigations, carried out by its foreign intelligence services, relating in particular to the activity of espionage”, indicates Arnaud Montebourg.
He specifies that his own company founded in 2015, Les Équipes du made in France, and the investment company Otium Capital “have joined forces to launch a fund project, the Private Sovereign Fund for Industry and Agriculture” dedicated to industrial and agricultural sovereignty.
“While at this stage” this new company is still “in the process of being set up”, “a takeover by Otium, ahead of our private Sovereign Fund for Industry and Agriculture, seems to us to be highly preferable for sovereign interests from France. […] We are therefore fully in a position to finance the acquisition of Segault based on the information currently available,” he said.
Such an operation would only be feasible “on condition that” the Ministry of Economy and Finance “applies to the sale of Segault the provisions of the decree” regulating foreign investment in sectors deemed strategic.
Arnaud Montebourg thus asks Bercy to “notify without delay a ban on the acquisition of the company Segault” to Flowserve. As soon as “this ban is notified, we will immediately enter into negotiations with the current owners in order to present our candidacy for the takeover”, he adds.