Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute

By Alexia Wai-Chun Tye

Guest Contributor

On 17 November 2011, representatives of the French financial, industrial and private equity community were invited to a celebration to mark the 3rd anniversary of the creation of France’s Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement (FSI) at the Elysées presidential palace.

President Nicolas Sarkozy congratulated the sovereign wealth fund on its achievements since its creation in 2008: a total of Euro 5.9bn invested in French companies, small and large.

He also announced the establishing of 3 successor funds focused on 3 sectors: aeronautics (Aerofund 2), healthcare (InnoBio MedTech) and nuclear energy.

The event was relatively discrete, and observers noted that the President was obliged to make some new announcements on the subject of the financing of French small and medium sized companies (SMEs), an area he champions closely. The mandate of the FSI remains quite different from that of major SWFs – it is mainly inward-looking and designed as a pillar of France’s industrial policy. One of the chief objectives is to support the development of future champions of French industry, throughout the value chain, down to the smallest subcontractor. Its investments have been chiefly to insulate French SMEs from hostile takeovers, rescue distressed companies or meet financing needs that the rest of the financial markets cannot provide. Indeed France has several investment and credit entities with a multiplicity of programs to assist the development of SMEs. These institutions include CDC Entreprises (a subsidiary of French state institution Caisse des Dépôts, also the 51% parent of the FSI), OSEO, Avenir Entreprises, etc, and the challenge is how to make them all work effectively together.

To delve deeper into the French local regions, Sarkozy wants to create a new fund called FSI-Régions. He did acknowledge that there would be a slowdown in the pace of investment because of the current crisis, and made no mention of new capital injections for the FSI. He stressed that the FSI, whilst serving the national interest, aims to make a reasonable profit, “but not obscene levels of profit like hedge funds”. He also lashed out at the banks, saying that they should declare less bonuses and dividends, and concentrate more on lending to industry. In spite of the pressure to meet new capital adequacy standards, the banks must not neglect the SMEs, he said.

The reaction of the attendees was mixed. Aside from questions over its purpose, the FSI has also been criticized for investing in companies that have sold defense systems to the Libyan and Syrian regimes.

No mention of an international strategy was made – cooperation and co-investment with foreign investors could serve to attract the additional capital that the FSI needs.

Alexia Wai-Chun Tye is a Partner at AddVenture, a private equity advisory firm.

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by guest contributors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute or any employee thereof.

Politically and economically, the European Union has been struggling to keep itself together. In recent months, numerous high-level government officials from several European nations have been courting foreign institutional investors to buy government bonds, allocate money to EFSF investments, and invest in capital increases in large scale European companies. Some government officials have been trying to arrange deals to sell public assets to foreign state-owned enterprises (SOE). For example, the Chinese state-owned China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) purchased the rights to a Greek container port in Piraeus for 35 years with an option for an additional 5 years for €3.4 billion. Some Greek dockworkers were not happy with the financial arrangement as labor rates changed and around 16% of workers were let go or forced into early retirement.[Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

The press release states, “as a first milestone of this cooperation, advanced exclusive talks on a €2.3 billion minority investment by CIC in the Exploration & Production division of GDF SUEZ to accelerate the development and on the €0.6 billion acquisition by CIC of a 10% stake in the LNG Atlantic liquefaction plant in Trinidad and Tobago.

GDF SUEZ and China Investment Corporation (“CIC”) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) for cooperation across multiple businesses and regions, in particular in Asia Pacific. GDF SUEZ and CIC will cooperate on a non-exclusive basis to help accelerate their respective strategies by exploring areas of cooperation and co-investment opportunities. The MoU will be deployed across GDF SUEZ Group’s businesses (gas, power, water and waste, and energy efficiency services) and sets up the framework for cooperation in three areas:

(i) joint investment opportunities in existing and new energy-related projects in Asia Pacific;

(ii) financing cooperation in new projects in Asia Pacific;

and (iii) commercial sponsorship and support to GDF SUEZ in Asia Pacific region, including China, by CIC’s affiliates.

The MoU will be administered through a Steering Committee chaired by the two groups’ respective CEOs.

As the first milestone of this cooperation, CIC is in advanced exclusive talks with GDF SUEZ regarding a €2.3 billion minority investment in the Exploration & Production division of GDF SUEZ (“GDF SUEZ E&P”) (excluding the 22.5% equity stake in E.F. Oil and Gas Limited (“EFOG”)). CIC will own 30% of GDF SUEZ E&P, following a capital increase and a financial restructuring of GDF SUEZ E&P reducing its net financial debt to €0.7 billion.

The minority investment of CIC will reinforce GDF SUEZ E&P’s capital structure and will contribute to accelerate the development of this important activity for GDF SUEZ by providing the appropriate financial flexibility. Initiated in the 1990s via acquisitions followed by strong organic development, GDF SUEZ E&P has 2P reserves of 815 mmboe at the end of 2010, an annual production of 51 mmboe in 2010 and a significant portfolio of contingent resources and exploration prospects. With more than 1,500 employees in 13 countries, it generated €2.2 billion of revenues and €1.4 billion of EBITDA in 2010. The transaction values GDF SUEZ E&P (excluding EFOG) at c. €8.1 billion in enterprise value.

As part of the transaction, CIC would also acquire from GDF SUEZ a 10% stake in the train 1 of the Atlantic LNG liquefaction plant located in Trinidad and Tobago as well as production payments associated with trains 2, 3 and 4 for an amount of €0.6 billion.

The potential acquisition by CIC of a 30% stake in GDF SUEZ E&P and of its 10% stake in the LNG Atlantic liquefaction plant is part of GDF SUEZ’s portfolio optimization program of €10 billion, announced at the 2010 annual results presentation and would result in net cash proceeds of €2.9 billion. The transaction will be subject to condition precedents being satisfied and will be presented for consultation to GDF SUEZ’s employee representative bodies. The transaction could be finalized by the end of 2011. The GDF SUEZ Board of Directors views the cooperation with CIC and the transaction as having a strong strategic interest for GDF SUEZ.”

Read more: GDF SUEZ Press Release

By Alexia Wai-Chun Tye

Guest Contributor

France’s Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement (FSI) generated creditable results for 2010, reinforcing its raison d’être as France’s answer to the sovereign wealth fund model, albeit with a distinct national development mandate focusing solely on French domestic markets.  [Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by guest contributors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute or any employee thereof.

After a long series of tense negotiations with various potential institutional investors, Areva SA, the French controlled company is planning to receive capital by year end.  The firm has around 3% of its capital listed, which are non-voting investment certificates.  [Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

Businessweek reports, “France is close to selling a stake in nuclear-reactor maker Areva SA to Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund, with the first stage of a capital increase “imminent,” Industry Minister Eric Besson told radio broadcaster Europe 1.  Besson wasn’t able to say whether that means “in a few hours or a few days,” he said in an interview with the broadcaster today. The minister said France will take part in the capital increase, declining to say for how much.

“The first phase of the recapitalization of Areva, you’re right, it’s imminent,” Besson said. “The negotiations are ongoing” and talks with the Kuwait fund “are advancing well.”

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Dec. 1 that the country was in “active” talks with the Kuwait Investment Authority about selling a stake in Areva.

Source: Businessweek

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By Alexia Wai-Chun Tye

Guest Contributor

During a visit of a high level presidential delegation in Paris on 27 October 2010, Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s Sovereign Wealth Fund signed a master contract with France’s Caisse des Dépôts. Caisse des Dépôts, the 51% controlling shareholder of the French sovereign wealth fund FSI, was represented by its CEO Augustin de Romanet, concurrently President of the Board of FSI. The cooperation contract covers infrastructure, financing of SMEs, innovation, sustainable cities, and more generally, long term investment strategies.[Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by guest contributors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute or any employee thereof.

By Alexia Wai-Chun Tye

Guest Contributor

Whilst the FSI’s newly appointed CEO Jean-Yves Gilet has yet to take up his position after the summer lull, the President of the Board, Augustin de Romanet, has been speaking publicly on a variety of issues facing the FSI and its 51% controlling shareholder, the state institution Caisse des Dépôts (“CDC”).

A frequently asked question concerns the financial resources of the FSI and its longer term future.  With the double threat of new prudential regulations Basel III and Solvency II that will soon come into force, de Romanet sees a shrinking of the traditional sources of funding for fast-growing, innovative companies, acting alongside the FSI and CDC.  In the medium term FSI will need further capital injections in order to ensure that promising French companies receive the support they need.  In the shorter term, de Romanet sees the solution coming from long term international investors, including in particular sovereign wealth funds, co-investing alongside the FSI and its parent CDC.  He also mentioned soliciting investors from Singapore, Malaysia and Kuwait. [Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

This article will appear in the Sovereign Wealth Quarterly Q3Y2010.

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by guest contributors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute or any employee thereof.

According to the Rio Tinto press release, “Rio Tinto has received a binding offer from funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management, L.P. (Apollo) and the Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement (FSI) to buy a 61 per cent stake in Alcan Engineered Products (AEP), excluding the Cable Division. The transaction follows the successful divestment last year of the Composites division of the Engineered Products business. The terms of the transaction are confidential.

Under the terms of the transaction, Apollo would become the majority and managing shareholder in AEP with a 51 per cent stake in a new holding company for AEP, with the FSI holding 10 per cent. Rio Tinto would hold a 39 per cent stake.  Rio Tinto will respond to this binding offer following consultation with the relevant employee representatives.

Guy Elliott, Chief Financial Officer, Rio Tinto, said: “This potential sale of a majority stake to Apollo and FSI is in line with our strategy of divesting non-core assets of Rio Tinto Alcan. When this transaction is completed, we will have exited all downstream businesses, except Alcan Cable. We look forward to participating in the upside potential of AEP, both as a minority shareholder and key supplier to the business.”"

Read more: Rio Tinto Press Release

According to the press release, “ArcelorMittal executive Jean-Yves Gilet has been chosen to head France’s state-backed FSI investment fund, the Economy Ministry and state bank Caisse des Depots said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Gilet will take the reins in September and replace outgoing Chief Executive Gilles Michel, who announced in June he was leaving for minerals company Imerys, the statement said. The FSI, 49 percent owned by Caisse des Depots and 51 percent by the government, was created in 2008 to protect so-called “strategic” French companies from the economic crisis.

Since then, the fund has bought stakes in companies including video games maker Ubisoft, dairy group Danone, entertainment conglomerate Vivendi and catering company Sodexo”

Read more: Reuters

According to the press release, “Cerenis Therapeutics SA (Cerenis), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the research and development of novel therapies based on the metabolism of HDL (the “good” cholesterol) to treat cardiovascular and other metabolic diseases, announced today it has raised €40 million in the first close of its series C financing.

In this round €20 million came from the Fund for Strategic Investment (FSI) with an additional €20 million coming from the existing investors: Sofinnova Partners, HealthCap, Alta Partners and TVM Capital, EDF Ventures, OrbiMed and DAIWA Corporate Investment. This third round of financing for Cerenis (Series C) will fund Phase II development of the lead Cerenis program, CER-001, an HDL-mimetic for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and to support the development of other new HDL therapies.

This round of financing brings the total capital raised to date by the company to €107 million. Jean-Louis Dasseux, co-founder and CEO of Cerenis said: “We welcome the FSI as a new investor and are very pleased to have such strong support from our current investors. This support recognizes the progress made to date in the development of Cerenis in the field of HDL, the promise of the pipeline of products, and the quality of Cerenis’ team.”"

Read more: Press Release

By Alexia Tye

Guest Contributor

Gilles Michel, the CEO of the FSI, will shortly step down to take up a new position in the private sector.   He looks back over what the FSI has accomplished in the short period since its creation in January 2009.

Defending what may seem to be a premature departure, he feels that since he set up the FSI under the orders of the President of the Republic – the fund was then literally himself and a mobile phone – the fund is solidly in place and has achieved much.  With a team of 30 (11 professionals plus mostly state-appointed senior management), 110 investments have been executed, and the FSI has found a firm footing in the French economic landscape.

[Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

Alexia Tye is a Partner at AddVenture, a private equity advisory firm.

The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by guest contributors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute or any employee thereof.

[Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

According to BI-ME, “Kuwait and France on Thursday signed an initial agreement on nuclear cooperation that includes exchanging expertise on the field, the official news agency KUNA reported. The agreement encourages the peaceful use of atomic energy to bring in vital energy resources such as electricity, the report said, without providing any details of the cooperation. Earlier on Wednesday KUNA had reported that Kuwait may be interested in acquiring a stake in France’s nuclear giant Areva, citing unidentified industry sources.

‘Areva says it needs the capital injection to finance the expected rapid development in the nuclear market,’ Kuna said.

The news agency added that Anne Lauvergeon, the CEO of Areva, did not give details on ongoing contacts with potential investors, ‘but industry sources have said that Kuwait could be interested in taking a stake in Areva’.

Lauvergeon reportedly said Wednesday that the talks taking place with potential partners are at a government-to-government level and that a number of partners were involved. In March, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Sheikh Jaber Moubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said Kuwait will cooperate with France in the field of nuclear power, hinting it could take a stake in the nuclear group Areva. The Financial Times also said in March that the French government was considering opening the share capital of Areva to Middle Eastern investment funds with a view to reinforcing its political influence and the nuclear group’s prospects in the region. Exploratory talks had been held about the possibility of sovereign wealth funds buying minority stakes of 1%-5% in Areva, which is majority owned by the French government, the FT said, citing people close to the matter.”

read more: Business Intelligence Middle East

Wall Street Journal reports, “Areva SA is poised to raise some €1 billion ($1.44 billion) by selling its stake in a French nickel-mining firm, people familiar with the matter said, in what would be the latest move by the French nuclear-power group to raise money for a vast nuclear plant renewal plan and expansion into alternative energies. The state-owned Areva plans to sell its 25.78% stake in Eramet to France’s Fonds Strategique d’Investissement — a sovereign fund created last year by the French government to help strategically important companies — by the end of the first quarter, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. Spokespeople for Areva and Eramet declined to comment.”

read more: Wall Street Journal

According to Reuters, “France’s FSI strategic investment fund will take part in a 17 million euros ($25 million) capital raising for web video share site Dailymotion, the Gallic rival of Google Inc’s YouTube. The money raised will be used to accelerate Dailymotion’s expansion, notably abroad, the FSI said in a statement on Thursday.

‘We are one of the rare French players that can participate in the future (sector) consolidation,’ Dailymotion Chief Executive Cedric Tournay told Reuters.

The FSI will invest 7.5 million euros in the transaction, alongside Dailymotion’s existing shareholders Advent Venture Partners, AGF Private Equity, Atlas Venture et Partech International. Dailymotion, which says it has 60 million unique visitors worldwide, also aimed to post a profit next year, having reached breakeven, Tournay said. The company had no plans to seek a stock market listing in the short term. “We will consider it within two to three years,” said Tournay.”

read more: Reuters

read more: Official French Press Release

Bloomberg reports that, “France’s sovereign wealth fund may spend 900 million euros ($1.3 billion) before the end of the year and increase aid to the auto industry in 2010, as the recession batters companies’ finances. The 20 billion-euro investment pool, set up last year by President Nicolas Sarkozy, may provide capital to suppliers of Airbus SAS and Safran SA and open a fund for smaller companies, said Gilles Michel, managing director of the fund.

‘The effect of the crisis on companies is worsening,’ Michel said in an interview in Paris late yesterday. ‘Many companies are facing financial pressure.’

The fund, created last year to protect companies the government considered strategic from “foreign predators,” has spent almost 600 million euros so far this year, meaning total investment may reach 1.5 billion euros in 2009. French gross domestic product may shrink 3 percent this year, the most since 1949, the national statistics agency estimates.”

read more: Bloomberg

Bru Direct reports that the “Brunei Investment Agency (BIA) has acquired a prime property next to the BIA controlled Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris to expand the capacity of the famous landmark, French Ambassador to Brunei Louis Le Vert yesterday said during the reception for the French National Day. The envoy said that such investment has been “welcomed warmly” by the French government as it shows BIA’s confidence in the city of Paris as a travel destination. He didn’t give other details.”

read more: Bru Direct

Khaleej Times reports that, “Mubadala Development Company, an investment arm of the Abu Dhabi government, on Tuesday signed a deal to explore joint investment opportunities in French companies. The memorandum of understanding between Mubadala and France’s Fonds Strategique d’Investissement, or FSI, aims to set up a framework for investing in sectors that are of mutual interest to both the companies. Potential areas for investment in listed or private French companies include technology, health sciences, bio-technology and renewable energy. The MoU was signed during a visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the UAE capital.

‘This partnership fits into our strategy to work with leading international organisations across a range of industries to develop and operate businesses that not only generate outstanding financial returns but also contribute to the economic diversification of Abu Dhabi and bring real and lasting benefits to its people,’ said Mubadala CEO and Managing Director Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak.”

read more: Khaleej Times

France’s sovereign wealth fund on Wednesday announced it had taken a stake in French auto parts group Valeo, a firm that has been targeted by a New York investment group pushing for a merger. The FSI said it’s taken an 8.3% stake in Valeo and has 10.55% of the voting rights. New York-based Pardus Capital Management, Valeo’s top shareholder, has suggested the French firm merge with Visteon a rival auto parts maker in which Pardus also is the leading shareholder.

read more: MarketWatch

“Paris, 20 November 2008 – The President of the French Republic announced this morning in Montrichard the creation of a Strategic Investment Fund (SIF), which is intended to boost the equity and to stabilise the capital of French businesses. He has decided to entrust the management of this fund to Caisse des Dépôts.

[Content protected for Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute Standard subscribers only. Please subscribe to view site content.]

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