The French government on Tuesday announced the launch of a public tender offer to buy out minority shareholders in the national power generator, EDF. The state already owns 84 percent of EDF shares, and is offering nearly 10 billion euos for the remaining 16 percent, currently in private hands.
EDF is deeply in debt. The company's finances have been weighed down by declining output from France's ageing nuclear power stations, and by the government-imposed policy of selling energy at below cost to take price pressure off consumers.
