In June, the government signed a purchase promise to acquire 80% of ASN, the former submarine cable division of Alcatel held since 2015 by the Finnish Nokia. A “strategic” activity for Bercy.
The Minister of Economy and Finance Antoine Armand will travel to Calais on Tuesday to confirm the State's purchase of 80% of Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), which produces and installs submarine cables, an activity deemed “strategic”his office said on Monday. Antoine Armand “will sign the ASN acquisition contract”in the presence of employees of the company's site in Calais, where it employs some 600 people out of a total of 1,370 in France, the firm said. He will be accompanied by the mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchart.
In June, the government signed a purchase promise to acquire 80% of ASN, the former submarine cable division of Alcatel held since 2015 by the Finnish Nokia, for around 100 million euros. The company, valued at 350 million euros, is one of the world leaders in the sector “with 35% market share”according to the same source which underlines its importance “strategic”particularly in an international context marked by several conflicts.
An issue of “sovereignty”
While “virtually all transcontinental data transfers” are provided by submarine cables, “ASN has unique industrial and strategic skills. Consequently, mastering this technology and the infrastructures that depend on it is an issue of sovereignty and technological independence for France and its European partners.underlined Bercy.
The agreement ultimately provides for the possibility for the State to acquire 100% of ASN's capital. Nokia retains a 20% minority share to facilitate the transition. The French State will be “a long-term shareholder” via the State Participation Agency (APE), the latter indicated: “the challenge is to develop the company's activity and ensure its strongest possible growth in the coming years”. “The market in which ASN is located is buoyant” thanks to the developments planned by the large digital groups, underlined the APE.
ASN, which competes with two major players, the American TE SubCom and the Japanese NEC, has a turnover of more than one billion euros. According to Bercy, its turnover could “double or even triple in the years to come”. The operation will have no impact on employment within the company, which has around 2,000 employees, two-thirds of whom are in France. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks.
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