France ready to sell more stakes in energy firms - minister

By Geert De Clercq and Jean-Baptiste Vey PARIS (Reuters) - France is ready to sell more of its stakes in energy companies and its holdings only need to be big enough to maintain influence over strategy, Energy Minister Segolene Royal said. Royal said on television she had examined the state's energy sector holdings to determine how big a stake the state needs. Asked whether the state would be ready to drop its stakes in 84 percent state-owned utility EDF or 33.6 percent-owned gas utility GDF Suez , she said those stakes could fall "as long as we maintain the same influence". She added the proceeds from any disposals would be not be used to repay state debt but would rather help finance a switch to more renewable energy sources and boost efficiency. The government said last month it plans to sell between 5 billion euros (4.02 billion pounds) and 10 billion of state assets in the next 18 months. Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday privatisations would start with the sale of stakes in "those companies in which the state has double voting rights, which would allow it to maintain its influence". A source at the finance and economy ministry told Reuters the state has double voting rights in aerospace groups Thales and Safran , but could not provide a complete list of companies in which it has those rights. An industrial source said France is considering using a March 2014 law giving the state double voting rights on registered shares it has held for more than two years, so from April 2016 it could sell half its stakes and keep the same power. The law also specifies that for those firms in which there is a legal requirement to keep the state stake at a certain level below 50 percent, the state could temporarily descend below that level, as long as it goes back to the required level in capital or voting rights within two years. The source said this could let the state drop its GDF Suez stake below the 33.33 percent it is required to hold under a 2006 law that allowed the merger of former gas monopoly GDF with Suez in 2008. The state sold 3.1 percent GDF June. (Editing by David Holmes)