Thomson hands back its Credit Lyonnais stake to Government

Gilbert Sedbon/PARIS

FRENCH ELECTRONICS giant Thomson SA is selling back to the Government its stake in loss-making state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais, as a first step towards privatisation.

The sale will be completed no later than 20 December, or earlier if the privatisation is pushed through this year. Thomson holds a 21.9 % stake in the bank - the bulk of it held by Thomson-CSF.

The consumer-goods/defence-electronics group acquired the shares when it sold its Altus finance unit to the bank. The shareholding has haunted the Thomson accounts in recent years as the bank racked up losses, requiring a Government bail out. The sale will effectively wipe out Thomson's Fr 2.3 billion ($400 million) debt and remove uncertainties which the impact of the Credit Lyonnais holding would have on Thomson's accounts.

Dassault Aviation, Alcatel, Matra and state-owned Aerospatiale (itself due for privatisation) and the UK's GEC-Marconi have expressed an interest in forming some type of alliance with Thomson-CSF's defence business.

Bidders are awaiting a Government decision on how the company is to be sold and whether Thomson-CSF and Thomson Multimedia - the loss- making consumer arm - can be divided.

Source: Flight International