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December 21, 2020 | International, Land, C4ISR

Défense : veto de la France au rachat de Photonis par Teledyne

Au nom de la protection de ses intérêts stratégique, Paris s'oppose à ce que la société spécialisée dans la vision nocturne pour les armées passe sous pavillon américain.

Par Elise Vincent

C'est un coup de thé'tre dans le secteur très délicat de la défense. La France a formellement mis, vendredi 18 décembre, son veto au rachat de Photonis – une société spécialisée dans la vision nocturne pour les armées – par un groupe américain, Teledyne, au nom de la protection des intérêts stratégiques nationaux. Une initiative rare, qui a amené le cabinet de la ministre des armées, Florence Parly, à se féliciter d'avoir réussi à faire front commun sur ce dossier avec le ministère de l'économie et des finances.

« Les conditions de reprise de l'entreprise Photonis ne répondaient pas » aux impératifs de protection de la souveraineté économique et industrielle française de défense, a justifié le ministère des armées dans un communiqué. Il travaille désormais à « une solution alternative de rachat avec des acteurs industriels et financiers français actifs dans le secteur de l'optronique », a-t-il indiqué. Celle-ci pourrait être dévoilée au cours du premier trimestre 2021.

Cette décision intervient au terme de plus d'un an de négociations acharnées avec le propriétaire actuel de Photonis, le fonds Ardian, qui souhaitait vendre ses parts pour 425 millions d'euros (500 millions initialement). Rien ne dit qu'il n'y aura pas d'autres rebondissements. Toutefois, à ce stade, le veto français illustre la volonté de l'exécutif d'enrayer les rachats de « pépites » françaises par des acteurs étrangers, en particulier américains et chinois, et de faire de Photonis un signal politique.

Contrôle des investissements étrangers en France

Sise à Mérignac, près de Bordeaux, la société compte plus de 1 000 salariés. Elle travaille pour l'aéronautique, la recherche et la défense. Si son rachat a créé tant de remous, c'est qu'au-delà de sa spécialité dans la vision nocturne, elle fournit aussi de la technologie de pointe dans le domaine du nucléaire.

https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2020/12/19/defense-veto-de-la-france-au-rachat-de-photonis-par-teledyne_6063950_3234.html#:~:text=C'est%20un%20coup%20de,protection%20des%20int%C3%A9r%C3%AAts%20strat%C3%A9giques%20nationaux.

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