French state-controlled nuclear company Areva SA (CEI.FR) recently sold its stakes in French utility giant GDF Suez (GSZ.FR) and French oil major Total SA (TOT), a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The nuclear company is under pressure from the French government to divest non-priority assets to help finance its investment needs and take full advantage of a worldwide resurgence in nuclear power.
Another option for Areva to raise funds is to sell its transmission and distribution unit, Areva T&D, as the government would like it to do, the person said.
Areva declined to comment.
Areva's supervisory board is to meet by end of June and will decide then on whether to sell the T&D unit, the person said, adding the meeting could be held around mid-June.
The T&D unit is valued between EUR4 billion and EUR6 billion, the person said.
Even though the unit hasn't yet been put up for sale, French engineering firm Alstom SA (ALO.FR) and French electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric SA (SU.FR) have expressed their interest to the government, the person also said.
Schneider Electric declined to comment.
Alstom Chief Executive Patrick Kron said May 5 that the company would be interested in the T&D unit if it were for sale. Alstom used to own the unit, before skirting bankruptcy in 2003.
Areva previously held 0.4% of Total's capital equity and 1.2% of GDF Suez's capital.
As for Areva's stakes in French mining company Eramet SA (ERA.FR) and Franco-Italian chip maker STMicroelectronics (STM), "there is no plan to sell them as of now," the person said, without elaborating.
Areva's Chief Executive, Anne Lauvergeon, who fiercely resisted any asset sales and has been asking the government for more money and permission to launch a capital increase, "is to remain in place for now," the person said.
The French president Nicolas Sarkozy believes there's a political risk attached to Lauvergeon's potential departure, as she's considered leftist and thus part of the president's policy of including opposition party members in government circles, the person added.
The company needs around EUR11 billion to finance its growth projects, the buying-out of the 34% of Germany's Siemens AG's (SI) in its nuclear engineering business Areva NP, as well as to cover additional charges linked to the delayed construction of the first 3rd generation nuclear reactor called Evolutionary Power Reactor or EPR, in Finland.
In February, Siemens took the French government and Areva by surprise in announcing it wanted to be bought out of Areva NP by Jan.30, 2012, according to their cooperation agreement's terms.