Deals
Thomson: And The Winner Is...
Alcatel, probably--because Paris just can't bear to give up control
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In mid-October, French President Jacques Chirac will bring the curtain down on one of the longest-running industrial-political dramas in France. That's when the government will privatize state-controlled defense and consumer electronics giant Thomson, selling it either to telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Alsthom or defense and publishing conglomerate Lagardere Group.
Chirac will thus end a saga that has pitted two giant companies against each other and aroused the ire of investors and workers alike. His decision will also speak volumes on whether France is abandoning its interventionist approach to industry--or simply developing a new method of indirect meddling that merely pays lip service to free markets.