French Gov't Set To Make Formal Buyout Offer For Energy Giant EDF

The French government is now expected to launch its takeover of Electricite de France SA (EDF) by the end of September after a slight delay due to the complexity of clearing the offer price, three sources said, Julien Ponthus, Pamela Barbaglia and Leigh Thomas reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: EDF issued its fifth profit warning of the year on Thursday and is now expecting lower production to shave 29 billion euros ($29 billion) off its core earnings in 2022.

France's Finance Ministry said in July that it planned to file its offer to nationalize the struggling energy group at the beginning of this month, but has yet to lodge a formal bid.

Sources with knowledge of the process told Reuters that a formal offer was now expected to be filed with the AMF, France's financial markets regulator, by the end of the month and possibly even sooner.

EDF, which is undergoing a governance overhaul, issued its fifth profit warning of the year on Thursday and is now expecting lower production to shave 29 billion euros ($29 billion) off its core earnings in 2022.

A Finance Ministry source declined to give a deadline but said work was ongoing and the aim was to file the offer for EDF as soon as possible. There are lots of moving parts but the plan is on track and the government wants to launch the offer in September, a person familiar with the process added.

A fast-changing regulatory environment, an unprecedented number of reactor outages coupled with the fact that there are few companies EDF can be compared to for valuation, are some of the complexities slowing down drafting the offer, sources said.

EDF is in the process of overhauling its leadership as chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy, who has led the company since 2014, is stepping down and a new appointment is seen as imminent.

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