Areva

Areva S.A. is a French multinational group specializing in nuclear power headquartered in Courbevoie, France. Before its 2016 corporate restructuring, Areva was majority-owned by the French state through the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (54.37%), Banque publique d'investissement (3.32%), and Agence des participations de l'État (28.83%). Électricité de France, of which the French government has a majority ownership stake, owned 2.24%; Kuwait Investment Authority owned 4.82% as the second largest shareholder after the French state. As a part of the restructuring program following its insolvency, Areva sold out or discontinued its renewable energy businesses, sold its reactors business subsidiary Areva NP (now Framatome) to EDF and its nuclear propulsion and research reactors subsidiary Areva TA (now Technicatome) to Agence des participations de l'État, and separated its nuclear cycle business into a separate company New Areva (becoming Orano). As a result, Areva S.A. became wholly state-owned by the French government, remaining responsible only for the liabilities related to the Olkiluoto 3 project in Finland and holding a 40% stake in Orano. Framatome Areva was created on 3 April 2001 by the merger of Framatome (later: Areva NP, now: Framatome), Cogema (later: Areva NC, now: Orano Cycle) and Technicatome (later: Areva TA, now: Technicatome). It was based on the structure of its precursor, CEA-Industrie. Anne Lauvergeon became its first CEO. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the former Prime Minister of France, announced the privatization of Areva in 2003, but it was postponed several times, the French government opting finally for the privatization of GDF and EDF. At the end of October 2005, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced that he had suspended the privatization process. In 2003, Areva secured a contract for the Olkiluoto 3 project, which foresaw construction of the third generation EPR-type pressurised water reactor. In 2004 a contracted fixed price was established as €3.