''Agence des participations de l'État'' (, APE, ), created in 2004 under the government of
Jean-Pierre Raffarin, is the
French agency responsible for managing the State's shareholdings in companies of strategic importance. As of 2022, APE has €732.514 billion worth of
assets under management
In finance, assets under management (AUM), sometimes called fund under management, refers to the total market value of all financial assets that a financial institution—such as a mutual fund, venture capital firm, or depository institutio ...
, which includes investments in companies involved in energy, industry, defence, transport, communication and finance, among others.
History
The State participation agency is a Service à compétence nationale (service with national competence) created in September 2004.
The creation of the Agency responded to the need to clarify the role of a shareholder of the State and the promotion of its patrimonial interests alongside the regulatory functions, tax collection, sectoral supervision, buyer that the State exercises.
This first step provided the State with a structure embodying and exclusively exercising its role as a shareholder. The second step was to endow the APE with greater autonomy. The appointment of a State Equity Commissioner, reporting directly to the
French Ministry of the Economy and Finance, completed the process. Since May 2017, the APE has 88 companies
in its portfolio.
Since 2001, the activity of the State shareholder has been traced every year in a report appended to the draft Loi de finances en France (Finance law in France).
Operations
The main operations carried out by the agency were:
* 2003
** Merger of
Air-France and
KLM
** Transformation of DCN into a
public limited company
A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...
in 2003, which became
Naval Group in 2017
* 2004
** Transformation of
France Telecom into a
public limited company
A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...
in 2004, which became
Orange in 2006
* 2005
** Merger between
SNECMA and
SAGEM, which became
Safran in 2005
** Opening of the capital of
EDF with nearly 5 million subscriptions from individuals
** Initial public offering of
Gaz de France and its listing on
CAC 40
** Transformation of
ADP into a
public limited company
A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...
* 2006
** Opening of the capital and the IPO of
Aéroports de Paris in 2006 with 2.6M orders
** Disposal of Société des autoroutes du Nord et de l'Est de la France, Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhône and Autoroutes du Sud de la France
* 2007
** Entry of
Thales into the capital of
DCN
* 2008
** Merger between
Gaz de France and
Suez
Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...
to create the GDF-Suez group which became
Engie in 2015
* 2010
** Merger of the two tunnel boring companies SFTRF and ATMB
** Transformation of
La Poste into a
public limited company
A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...
* 2012
** Recapitalization of
Dexia
* 2013
** Takeover of the debt of the EPFR – Établissement public de financement et de restructuration (Public financing and restructuring institution) contracted vis-à -vis
Crédit Lyonnais
** Creation of the
Bpifrance (BPI)
* 2014
** Acquisition of a stake in
PSA Peugeot Citroën
** Acquisition of a stake in
Marseille Provence Airport
* 2015
** Restructuring of the nuclear sector started with
EDF, Areva and
Orano
** Restructuring of the land armaments sector with the merger of
Nexter
KNDS France (formerly known as Nexter, GIAT Industries or ''Groupement des Industries de l'Armée de Terre'', Army Industries Group) is a French government-owned weapons manufacturer, based in Versailles. The company was wholly government-owne ...
and
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann to form
KNDS
* 2017
** Merger between
Safran and
Zodiac Aérospace
** Provisional nationalization of the
Chantiers de l'Atlantique
Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire, ...
of
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany.
The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...
* 2018
** Reform of the
public broadcasting
** New Railway Pact
* 2019
** Privatization of
La Française des Jeux
* 2023
** Elimination of
GIAT Industries from the
SNPE-
Eurenco structure
* 2024
** Acquisition of 80% stake in
Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN)
Goal
The four missions of the Agency are as follows: Foster the economic performance of companies, their profitability and their long-term development; Act as a wise shareholder in corporate governance companies; Manage the portfolio of investments through acquisitions, disposals or shareholder mergers; Promote the exemplarity and social and environmental responsibility of companies.
The agency exercises the usual responsibilities of
shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...
s. In particular, the members of the agency represent the State on the
boards of directors. The agency "ensures a sufficient level of
control in companies operating in sectors that are particularly sensitive in terms of sovereignty". It enforces political decisions in corporate governance, such as feminization, and executive compensation.
Since 2017, the Agency has revised its shareholder strategy. From now on, the State is intended to be a shareholder in three types of companies: strategic companies which contribute to sovereignty (defense and nuclear), companies participating in public service missions or of national or local general interest for which regulation would be insufficient to preserve public interests and ensure public service missions, companies in difficulty whose disappearance could lead to a systemic risk.
Direction
The successive directors have been:
* Denis Samuel-Lajeunesse appointed general manager of the State participation agency on 15 September 2004
* Bruno Bézard appointed director general of the state participation agency on 26 February 2007
* Jean-Dominique Comolli appointed Commissioner for State Investments on 15 September 2010
*
David Azéma appointed Commissioner for State Investments on 1 September 2012
* Régis Turrini appointed Commissioner for State Investments on 1 September 2014
* Martin Vial appointed Commissioner for State Investments on 24 August 2015.
For the performance of its missions, the APE has a tight team of 53 people, mostly civil servants. As of 1 July 2019, it had 27 senior executives and investment managers (General management and investment management) traditionally from engineering bodies (44%), but also, in order to diversify profiles, from other bodies. (30% civil administrators, 33% civil servants from other bodies – INSEE, Banque de France, IGF, Cour des comptes) or contract employees. Nearly 30% of the senior managers of the APE are also graduates of a major business school. The areas of expertise (financial, legal, audit and accounting and communication), support functions and secretariats employ 26 people.
List of firms
Resulting from historical stratification, the entities falling within the scope of APE represent both companies in various sectors (services and finance, energy, transport, industry) and multiple statutes – public limited companies in the majority of cases, but also public institutions of an industrial and commercial nature (''
établissements publics à caractère industriel et commercial'' – EPIC).
See also
*
Bpifrance (company)
* ''
Caisse des dépôts et consignations''
* ''
Établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial''
*
Government-owned corporation
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agence des participations de l'Etat
Economy of France
Government agencies of France
Agence
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
2004 establishments in France