Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute

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

Reuters reports, “France’s FSI strategic investment fund could buy stakes in assets that French nuclear reactor supplier Areva is selling, the fund’s head told Les Echos newspaper.

Asked about Areva’s power Transmission & Distribution (T&D) unit and its minority stakes in mining group Eramet and chipmaker STMicroelectronics, Gilles Michel said, ‘Regarding Eramet, the FSI is obviously one of the possible shareholders, but there are other players. It’s exactly the same answer for STMicroelectronics and for T&D.’

On Wednesday, the FSI raised its stake in Technip, a builder of refineries and pipelines, to 5 percent from 2.6 percent. Michel told Les Echos the FSI spent 90 million euros $130.5 million on the Technip investment.”

read more: Reuters

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

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.

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