By Mimosa Spencer
PARIS--The French government plans to sell around 10 million
shares, corresponding to an around 10% stake in Aeroports de Paris
(ADP.FR) but will retain a majority stake in the airport operator,
French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said in a statement
Thursday.
The government will offer the stake to several long-term
investors via a private placing and it suggests the state's
strategic investment fund--the Fonds Stratégique d'Investissement,
which owns of a 5.6% stake in the company--takes part in the
transaction, according to the statement.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault in May indicated the
government would reduce its holdings in a number of state-owned
companies. Europe's second-largest economy entered a recession in
the first three months of this year and the government is taking
measures to reduce the country's budget deficit and ease its debt
load.
The planned sale fits the government's strategy of "an active
management strategy for state investments, allowing the
preservation of national and strategic state interests while
funding new sectors that drive economic development," the finance
ministry said Thursday.
France holds 54.5% of ADP, which owns and operates major
airports in the Paris region as well as a stake in a Turkish
airport.
In March, the French government raised 448.5 million euros
($588.1 million) from the sale of 3.12% of the capital of French
aerospace supplier Safran (SAF.FR), reducing its stake in the
company to roughly 27%. The state also recently reduced its
shareholding in European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co.
(EADSY), as part of a governance reshuffle agreed with the German
government.
Write to Mimosa Spencer at mimosa.spencer@dowjones.com