(Reuters) -French state-owned utility EDF’s new chief is considering a sale of some assets as part of a review of the firm’s portfolio in a bid to meet government demands to spur investments in new nuclear reactors, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
Dalkia and Edison are among the business units that may be sold, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
Renewable assets, with the exception of EDF’s hydraulic power projects, are also being considered for sale, it said.
EDF declined to comment on the report but pointed to Bernard Fontana’s parliamentary hearings after he was nominated for the role of chief executive at the end of April, where he floated the idea for a sale.
“Some sales may be undertaken as room for investment is needed.
However, the group aims to remain integrated,” Fontana had said during questioning by lawmakers at the time.
France is nuclear energy’s main champion in Europe as it gets around 70% of its electricity from its domestic fleet of reactors, operated by EDF.
Bernard Fontana was nominated to be the CEO of EDF in March, after President Emmanuel Macron’s government lost patience with former chief Luc Remont due to differences over how to provide power and build new capital-intensive nuclear reactors.
Fontana has told insiders that he wanted to assess which assets are not profitable or do not fit with the energy group’s strategic priorities, the FT reported, adding that the sale could come after the review, although he has not yet concluded which parts of the business should be sold off.
(Reporting by Rhea Rose Abraham in Bengaluru and Forrest Crellin in Paris; Editing by Anil D’Silva, Rashmi Aich and Rachna Uppal)
