Ending the recent diplomatic dispute, France and Italy have reached an agreement on Wednesday over STX France, giving control of the French shipyard to the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, under shared ownership and strict conditions.
In July, French President Emmanuel Macron had thwarted Fincantieri’s plan to acquire a majority stake in STX France, by temporarily nationalising the cruise shipyard, in a bid to maintain French jobs.
However, under Wednesday’s deal, Fincantieri will effectively take a 51% stake in the yard. According to sources, the company will buy 50% and the French state will lend it another 1%. France will retain 34.34%, French military shipyard Naval Group will have a 10%, STX staff a 2% and the yard’s local suppliers 3.66%.
The two governments also decided to launch a joint process paving the way for the future creation of a progressive alliance in the naval defence sector.
The two groups will play a key role in the steering committee that will be launched within the next few days with the objective to define by June 2018 a roadmap detailing the principles of the future alliance.
“..The agreement reached today by the two Governments on the shareholding structure of STX France foreseeing the presence of both Naval Group and Fincantieri represents a first important step and an opportunity to go forward in naval cooperation,” said the Italian shipbuilder in an official statement.