Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire stated on Wednesday that the France administration will tighten controls on foreign direct investments to protect French companies over strategic industries and bio-tech groups.
At present, non-European purchases of stakes in large companies do not need approval from the government if it’s 25% or less.
Le Maire announced a lowering of the threshold of foreign investments in big companies up to 10 percent until the end of 2020.
“In this period of crisis, some companies are vulnerable, some technologies are fragile and could be bought by foreign competitors at a low cost. I won’t let it happen,” Le Maire stated in an interview with LCI television on Wednesday.
France had already tightened restrictions and lowered the shareholding threshold from 33% to 25% at the start of the year.
France is expected to recover in 2022, forecasting that the country’s economy will recuperate from its sharpest post-war recession brought by the novel coronavirus crisis, the central bank said on Tuesday. Europe’s second-largest ...
United Kingdom’s retail sales sunk by nearly a fifth in April as the government’s effort of combating the coronavirus brought disruptions to the sector. More so, Britain’s consumer spending declined by more than a third, ...
Asian shares gained on Monday as investors await more countries to re-open their economies despite a pick up in coronavirus cases. South Korea warned of a second wave of infections as cases grew to a one-month high, while new infections were ...
Oil prices gained on Friday with Brent rising almost 3% after President Donald Trump revealed the guidelines on reviving the U.S. economy. Brent rose 2.7%, or 75 cents, at $28.57 per barrel. U.S. crude for May delivery was up by 0.1%, or 1 ...
In select regions, China had removed limitations placed on buying cars to render sales from the sector stable. Moreover, the country is expediting plans to herd old cars into retirement, China’s Ministry of Commerce had disclosed on ...