The French government, architect of the rescue of Alstom two years ago, yesterday offloaded its 21.3% stake in the engineering group to construction firm Bouygues, netting a €1.26bn (£880m) profit.
Nicholas Sarkozy, the then finance minister, paid €772m for the Alstom stake in a package that saved the group from bankruptcy and was approved by the European commission, only if Alstom made several disposals. Bouygues, also France's third-largest mobile phone operator, is paying €2bn for the stake and is taking a 50% share of Alstom's hydro-electric equipment business for a further €100-€200m investment.
Patrick Kron, Alstom's chief executive, said: "This ends a painful period for Alstom and I hope it signals the start of a less troubled period."
Martin Bouygues, a Sarkozy confidant and chief executive of the eponymous group, said: "I want to salute the French state. The decision to invest in Alstom was courageous and contested but now it makes a nice asset gain and has helped a French industrial jewel to regain its financial equilibrium."
Bouygues, whose deal values Alstom at €9.4bn, has agreed to retain its stake for at least three years and to keep it below a third. The group's plans to enter the energy sector, frustrated last year when the state pulled the planned privatisation of nuclear plant builder Areva, are being realised through Alstom, which is said to have posted net income last year of more than €150m on sales up more than 7%.