UPDATE: French Govt's Richard To Head France Telecom-Official
06 Mayo 2009 - 6:14PM
Noticias Dow Jones
The French finance ministry's chief of staff, Stephane Richard,
will leave the government to head up the country's
telecommunications giant France Telecom SA (FTE), a senior
government official told Dow Jones Newswires late Wednesday.
Richard would succeed France Telecom's 67-year-old CEO, Didier
Lombard, whose mandate will come to an end in 2011. Richard's
appointment already has been approved by the country's Ethics
Council, which vets moves of government officials into top jobs in
private industry, the senior source said.
France Telecom declined to comment.
Meanwhile, French Business daily Les Echos reported on its Web
site that Richard's appointment was forced through by the
government, which holds a 26.7% stake in the former state
telecommunications monopoly.
Richard, a wealthy former businessman, would be the second
high-ranking government official to be shifted to head a major
French institution in the past few months.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's senior adviser, Francois
Perol, was appointed head of the giant French mutual bank to be
formed by the merger of mutuals Caisse d'Epargne and Banque
Populaire.
Richard could leave the Finance Ministry as early as mid-June,
the senior government source said, adding that he could start at
France Telecom as early as September in some initial role.
Les Echos said Richard's ascent at France Telecom will be
phased. At the beginning of next year he will take charge of the
international operations, the equivalent of second in command of
the entire company, it reported.
France Telecom is a major global telecoms presence, posting
EUR53 billion of revenue for 2008.
The appointment of Richard to run France Telecom's would further
consolidate the growing influence over business of Sarkozy's
government. The state holds a number of large sharehodings in some
of the country's biggest companies, especially in infrastructural
sectors.
-By Geraldine Amiel and A.H. Mooradian, Dow Jones Newswires; +33
1 4017 1740; geraldine.amiel@dowjones.com and
art.mooradian@dowjones.com.
Ruth Bender in Paris contributed to this article.