Privatizations: which companies could the state sell, and for how much?

Put on hold since the Covid-19 pandemic, the debate on privatization has been relaunched. Sunday October 20, the Minister of Budget and Public Accounts, Laurent Saint-Martin, affirmed on France Inter/France TV that he was not “opposite” to the idea of ​​selling State stakes in certain companies to pay off the French debt, while expressing certain reservations.

This statement follows the column published by three Renaissance deputies in La Tribune Sundaysuggesting to give in “participations in which the State itself no longer really understands either its role or its mission”.

These discussions on privatization take place while the public authorities directly control 85 companies, ten of which are listed on the stock exchange, according to the State Participation Agency (APE), the public body in charge.

A portfolio of 180 billion euros

Companies in the transportation, defense and energy sectors make up the bulk of this portfolio. For example, the State owns the entire capital of SNCF, RATP, EDF, France TV and Radio France, but also significant direct stakes in the capital of Areva (99.88%), Chantiers de l’Atlantique (84.3%), La Poste (34%), Thales (26%), Engie (23.6%), Renault (15%), Orange (13. 4%) or Airbus (10.8%).

The state also indirectly controls more than 1,800 companies. These mainly concern the subsidiaries of groups in which the public authorities are the majority shareholder, but also investments made in more than 400 funds or companies by BPI France, the public investment bank 100% owned by the State.

As of June 30, 2024, the APE ensured that the portfolio of participations held directly by the State had a value of 179.5 billion euros. A significant amount which fuels the regular return of the idea of ​​selling all or part of it to reduce the debt. But, conversely, this investment brought Bercy 2.3 billion euros in dividends last year.

Privatizations stopped by Covid

The first major wave of privatizations dates back to the mid-1980s. In full cohabitation with the socialist president François Mitterrand, the government of Jacques Chirac sold part of Saint-Gobain, the Compagnie Générale d’Electricite, Havas, TF1, of Suez and several banks including Paribas and Société Générale.

A movement continued by subsequent governments, with the sale of companies such as Rhône-Poulenc, Renault and Crédit Lyonnais.

The pandemic has since put an at least temporary halt to new privatizations, notably that planned for Aéroports de Paris. On the contrary, this has pushed public authorities to want to invest in sectors deemed essential to national or European sovereignty.

The APE thus indicates that it has sold only 7 million euros of assets over the 2023-2024 financial year, for 885 million euros of equity investments. The last major privatization dates back to November 2019, with the sale of 1.6 billion euros of shares in Française des jeux, of which the State now only holds 20% of the capital.