France has definitively dropped EDF’s “Hercules” restructuring plan – Le Maire

PARIS (Reuters) -France has definitively shelved plans for a restructuring of the state-controlled nuclear power group EDF, code-named Hercules, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday.

“Hercules has been dropped and we will not go back on it,” Le Maire said during a visit of the Penly nuclear site in northern France.

The revamp, which aimed to separate the debt-laden nuclear power business from the rest of the company’s assets, had been dropped after it notably raised concerns about job security among employees, who feared that a split between the EDF businesses could result in job cuts.

France is buying out the 16% of EDF it does not already own to take the company private and have a free hand in running it as European governments seek to secure its energy supplies.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)