France Tightens Checks on Foreign Investment Amid Concerns over National Security
Foreign investors must now clear stakes of 10% or more, as the government moves to protect sensitive firms and speed reviews to 10 days.
- On Sunday, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu issued a decree lowering France's foreign investment-screening threshold to 10 percent for non-European investors acquiring stakes in listed French companies operating in sensitive sectors.
- The government said the change was needed "to guard against opportunistic, non-European equity acquisitions in French companies listed outside the EU that could pose threats to national security," closing a regulatory gap amid geopolitical tensions.
- Under the new rules, the finance ministry will use a fast-track procedure, deciding within 10 days whether a transaction requires detailed examination while avoiding undue market disruption.
- The decree follows a parliamentary report by MPs Christophe Plassard, Jean-Louis Thiériot, and Charles Rodwell calling for a "radical shift in posture," stressing foreign investment "is taking on greater significance because of the geopolitical context."
- France faces a balancing act, seeking to protect strategic businesses while continuing to attract foreign capital, a challenge exemplified by the 2024 debate over the €16 billion sale of Sanofi's Doliprane.
28 Articles
28 Articles
DEXYPTAGE - In some cases, foreign investors will have to solicit Roland Lescure.
A decree issued on Sunday 2 August allows the State to oppose foreign equity acquisitions in sensitive French companies as soon as they reach the 10% threshold.
The government strengthens its control over foreign investment in strategic sectors. By decree, the threshold of participation triggering the arbitration of the Ministry of the Economy for a non-European investor in a sensitive listed company increases from 25% to 10%. This...
France tightens the rules for investors outside the European Union who want to enter the ownership of companies considered sensitive. Paris significantly reduces the threshold from which the State can intervene by invoking the protection of national security and strategic interests.
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