The French government was not aware beforehand of the takeover of KLM-Air France shares by the Dutch State. That is what the French Minister of Economic Affairs, Bruno Le Maire, says Tuesday to the French newspaper Les Echos .
„I have taken note of the importance of the Dutch state, which took place without prior notification to the Board of Directors and the French government,“ says Le Maire.
However, Hoekstra and Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that they briefly informed their French counterparts on Tuesday evening, but that there was no reaction from Paris.
The French minister also confirmed his support for the strategy of the company and the management. Le Maire added that it was essential for KLM-Air France to be managed without national public interference.
The Dutch minister of finance, Wopke Hoekstra, announced on Tuesday evening in a press conference that the Dutch government is taking an interest in the aviation combination. It is 12.68 percent, with a current value of 680 million euros.
According to the minister, more and more important decisions are taken within the aviation combination that the Dutch government is only informed about afterwards. KLM received fewer and fewer representatives on important positions, so Hoekstra said there would be less balance.
The French state always had an interest after merger with Air France and KLM
The French state has always had an interest since the merger of French Air France and KLM in 2003. At the moment that is 14 percent. Minister Hoekstra wants to expand the Dutch interest to the same extent.
The purchase of the shares involves borrowing money on the capital market, so the government debt is running up, so no direct tax money is involved. The planned government expenditures do not change and the purchase has no effect on the budget balance.
The question is whether the interest costs in the future will outweigh the possible income via dividend (the profit on shares). Air France-KLM has in any case not paid any dividends in recent years.
For years a lot of unrest in aviation combination
There has been a lot of unrest about Air France-KLM again in recent weeks. Recently it concerned the reappointment of KLM CEO Pieter Elbers. The boss of the Franco-Dutch aviation concern, Ben Smith, would like to get rid of him.
Elbers has now been reappointed, but it has become clear in recent years that the French are trying to get as much control as possible, with possible job losses and a decline in the international hub function of Schiphol as a result.
