French state fund seeks Alcan stake: report

PARIS (AFP) – France is in talks to take a stake in Pechiney aluminium, a former pillar of French industry that was sold to Canada's Alcan Corporation in 2003, a report said on Tuesday. Les Echos financial daily said the French strategic investmest fund would link up with the US investment fund Apollo to acquire a 10 percent stake in Alcan Engineered Products that includes part of Pechiney. The company now produces aluminium products for the aeronautics and defence secor and the car industry. The newspaper said officials close to the talks believe a deal could be reached before the end of December and that the purchase would happen in the first quarter of 2010. No figure was given for the value of the proposed transaction.