French state-controlled power group Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) is
seeking to strengthen its position in Italy's utility Edison SpA (EDN.MI),
EDF's Chairman and Chief Executive Henri Proglio said in an interview with
French daily Le Monde, according to an advanced copy of its Wednesday edition.
"We should be able to convince the Italian government and
industrials," Proglio is quoted as saying, adding he doesn't want the group
to have minority stakes or even have joint control in core activities.
EDF and Italian municipal utility A2A SpA (A2A.MI) jointly control
Edison
via a
complex shareholders' pact that ends Sept. 15. The two have been bickering on
how their joint control should proceed.
Negotiations between the two are expected to resume from around the middle of
June after local elections in
Italy
are
over. A2A is controlled by the municipalities of
Milan
and
Brescia
.
The negotiations come against a backdrop of rising concern in
Italy
that
French companies are trying to eat up pieces of the country's corporate pie. The
concerns have led the Italian government to consider passing a decree that
would bar foreign firms from taking over companies deemed strategic.
In the interview with Le Monde, Proglio also said the group's power generation
capacities should grow to 200 gigawatts from 150GW currently, mostly through
internal growth, with at least 50% of that energy coming from nuclear.
Within the next ten years, "EDF will strengthen its competitive edge,
notably in nuclear, and answer its customers diverse needs around the
world," Proglio is quoted as saying. The group seeks partnerships with raw
material producers which seek added value, he said. "Tying up EDF with a
big gas or coal producer, for instance, could be a winning situation for
both."
EDF is the world's largest nuclear operator with 58 reactors, all located in
France
.
The nuclear accident at Tokyo Power Electric Co's (9501.TO)
Fukushima
plant
means that some projects will be delayed, but that doesn't call the nuclear
energy into question, Proglio insisted, adding that
China
, the
U.S.
,
Russia
, the
U.K.
,
Turkey
and
other countries don't intend to drop the energy source. "Nuclear will be more
selective and demanding," he said.