France is to temporarily nationalise cruise shipbuilder STX France to prevent Fincantieri taking majority control, the economy minister said last Thursday.
This prompted an angry response from Rome, Reuters reported.
Italian state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri had reached an agreement in May to pay €79.5 mill for a two-thirds stake in the French shipyard, which is being sold because of the parlous state of its South Korean parent, STX.
Last week, Fincantieri had rejected a French government proposal to settle for 50:50 ownership instead.
That prompted the French Government, which had a minority stake, to exercise pre-emption rights to buy out other shareholders before those rights expire at the end of the month, in effect giving Paris more time to come up with another solution, Reuters said.
