They accuse Jean-Bernard Lévy of being judge and party, because of his position as censor on the board of directors of Societe Generale. The bank is one of the two establishments which presented the takeover bid for renationalisation.
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The Financial Markets Authority (AMF) is still examining the public takeover bid (OPA) on EDF led by the State. Pending this decision, employee shareholders of the electricity supplier denounce a “potential conflict of interest situation” of the current CEO, Jean-Bernard Lévy. They accuse him in particular of occupying the position of censor on the board of directors of Societe Generale, “one of the two establishments presenting the offer designated by the State”.
This situation, they write in a letter consulted by AFP dated Tuesday, November 8, has “could influence its decisions and the meaning of its vote within the framework of the deliberations of the EDF board of directors” relating to the takeover bid launched by the State. At the end of October, the group’s board of directors had issued a favorable opinion on the renationalisation of the group, at 12 euros. “Jean-Bernard Lévy is keen to preserve Societe Generale’s interests as much as possible and not to adopt any behavior (…) that could be unfavorable to Societe Generale”say its members.
The other potential conflict of interest raised by these small shareholders concerns the very status of Jean-Bernard Lévy, appointed directly by the executive. According to them, the CEO would be unlikely to oppose the renationalization project wanted by the state, since he would be exposed to dismissal. They imply that the leader should have abstained from participating in the vote of October 27 which gave the green light to the EDF renationalisation operation, like the representatives of the State (which holds 84% of the capital) had done it. The management of the group did not wish to comment immediately on this information.
These shareholders, who hold less than 1.5% of the shares, are mostly employees and former employees who feel aggrieved by the terms of the takeover bid. Gathered under the banner of the Mutual fund for company investment (FCPE) EDF shares, they reiterated their request to convene a new meeting of the board of directors of the company. With this in mind, they have already summoned the group on Monday in summary proceedings before the Paris Commercial Court. The decision is expected on Thursday.
Jean-Bernard Lévy’s successor will be Luc Rémont. His taking office could be brought forward to the “mid-november”declared the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, on BFM Business.