Former French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg has asked the current French government to forbid the sale of a French nuclear component company to an American group, saying he would be able to buy it himself in order to keep it French.
Montebourg, known for championing French companies and promoting anything ‘made in France’, says he has an investment fund ready to buy Segault, which makes components used in French nuclear submarines, if the Finance Ministry blocks its sale to an American multinational.
In a letter addressed to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on 31 March, seen by the AFP news agency, Montebourg said the sale should be stopped in the interest of national security.
The American multinational Flowserve announced in February it would be acquiring Segault’s parent company, the Canadian group Velan, in a 245 million dollar cash transaction.
Segault, which has about 80 employees in France, makes industrial valves for the Cherbourg-based Naval Group, which makes nuclear submarines, and for the Charles-de-Galle aircraft carrier.
Montebourg says Segault’s technology should be considered “sensitive” and crucial for French defense, and he warned Le Maire that its technology could be passed on to a foreign government.
The United States is preparing to supply Australia with submarines under the tri-party Aukus partnership signed at the end of 2021, which scuppered a multi-billion euro deal in which Australia was to buy French submarines.
France was already reportedly looking for a French buyer for Segault, and the French defense ministry has indicated it will be presenting a plan to keep French technology from being acquired by foreign companies.
Montebourg said an investment firm, Otium Capital, is ready to buy Segault, and that his own company, Les Equipes du Made in France (The Made in France teams) is working with Otium to create an investment fund to maintain France’s industrial and agricultural sovereignty.
Source : RFI
