French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced on Thursday the intention to extend state control to foreign investment in French companies, pointing to the sectors of “extraction and processing of critical raw materials.”
“We are going to expand the sectors under control, namely the extraction and processing of critical raw materials, given that these sectors have become decisive for the sovereignty of the country,” said Bruno Le Maire in a speech delivered in Alex. , in the center-east of the country.
The control, which is automatic when a non-European investor buys 10% or more of a firm’s capital, will be extended to the acquisition of shares in “French subsidiaries of foreign companies,” the minister added.