These two companies make cutting-edge faucets. The objective is to prevent foreign powers from collecting sensitive information.
These are two small companies. The first, Segault, 80 employees, is located in Essonne. The second, Velan SAS, in Lyon, has 200 employees. Both produce cutting-edge valves, boiler room valves for nuclear submarines but also for EDF nuclear power plants. Both are highly coveted by Americans.
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A procedure to control foreign investments
But Bercy opposed any takeover, thanks to a procedure which allows it to do so when the government considers that these are strategic industries. This is the procedure for controlling foreign investments. It is activated when a non-European industrialist or financier wants to acquire at least 10% of the voting rights of a listed French company or 25% of an unlisted company, in a sector which affects the sovereignty of France. . This allows the State to keep French companies within the French fold.
Velan SAS equips 55 French EDF reactors and most power plants around the world. Clearly, the State knows that it is risky to have suppliers or shareholders who are American or of another nationality. This can, in particular, allow foreign powers to collect sensitive information and in an uncertain geopolitical context, as at the moment, it is particularly vigilant.
This is not the first time that Bruno the Mayor has opposed takeovers
There was the Photonis affair. A company that manufactures binoculars that allow you to see at night, over uneven terrain. Photonis mainly supplies the French army. In 2020, the Minister of the Economy did not want this technological nugget to be bought by Californians.
Another example, with brands that are a little better known to the general public. Two years ago, Bercy also got in the way of the takeover of Carrefour by the Canadian brand Couche-Tard. This time it was in the name of food security.