France Builds 20-Billion-Euro Fund to Help Recapitalize Big Companies

France Builds 20-Billion-Euro Fund to Help Recapitalize Big Companies
Air France aircraft are seen on the tarmac at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in Roissy-en-France on March 24, 2020. (Charles Platiau/File Photo/Reuters)
Reuters
4/10/2020
Updated:
4/10/2020

The French government has set aside 20 billion euros ($21.7 billion) to help inject capital into big companies struggling to survive the CCP virus crisis, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on April 10.

Le Maire has repeatedly pledged to help France’s corporate champions get through the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus crisis by taking stakes in them or even going as far as nationalization if necessary.

“We’ve decided to put credit on the fund, to put 20 billion euros on the special fund to support to the capital of companies that need it, whether public or private,” Le Maire said on Europe 1 radio.

A technician flies a drone that will spray disinfectant along the streets of the French Riviera city of Cannes, southern France, on April 10, 2020. (Valery Hache /AFP via Getty Images)
A technician flies a drone that will spray disinfectant along the streets of the French Riviera city of Cannes, southern France, on April 10, 2020. (Valery Hache /AFP via Getty Images)

The funds are earmarked in a package of crisis measures that Le Maire more than doubled on Thursday to 100 billion euros and which is set to go to parliament next Wednesday for approval.

First on the list of companies that may need state funds is Air France KLM, which said on Thursday it expected the French and Dutch states to help meet its cash needs with air travel at a standstill.

KLM airline airplanes are seen parked as Schiphol Airport reduces its flights due to the CCP virus outbreak, in Amsterdam on April 2, 2020. (Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo/Reuters)
KLM airline airplanes are seen parked as Schiphol Airport reduces its flights due to the CCP virus outbreak, in Amsterdam on April 2, 2020. (Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo/Reuters)

“As regards Air France, we are ready for when the time comes, without a doubt soon, to support Air France and make sure that this French industrial champion ... recovers quickly,” Le Maire said.

Sources have told Reuters that Air France-KLM is in talks with banks to receive up to 6 billion euros ($6.56 billion) in loans guaranteed by the French and Dutch governments, a sum which the junior transport minister has described as “not unrealistic.”

Meanwhile, other companies whose business activity has ground to a halt are seeking to tap bank credit first rather than rushing to the state for new capital.

Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said on Friday that the carmaker, in which the French state has a 15 percent stake, could seek bank loans worth 4-5 billion euros ($4.37-$5.47 billion) .

By Leigh Thomas
Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.