Chirac says GDF-Suez merger to create French gas champion
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French President Jacques Chirac said that a controversial government-backed merger of Gaz de France and French utility group Suez was needed to create a French champion in the gas sector.
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PARIS, Sep 15 (IPS) - Following nearly two years of squabbling, this  month Franceâs national gas utility, Gaz de France, finally  agreed to team up with the Franco-Belgian utility Suez, to create  an energy behemoth with some 72 billion euros in revenue.
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French energy group Suez and state-owned Gaz de France announced their long-awaited merger on Monday, creating the world&#39;s fourth biggest energy company by market capitalisation.
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French President Jacques Chirac declared Saturday that France was a natural trade partner to China and, amid a flurry of air, rail and energy deals, played down any threat from one the world's fastest growing economies.
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Russia's Gazprom chooses French firm Total as a partner to develop the Shtokman gas field, reports say.
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President Jacques Chirac called for national unity on Tuesday over France's hostage crisis in Iraq, after a bid by self-appointed mediators failed to free two journalists held by Islamist militants.
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Business & money: French president will confirm today the â¬90bn (Â£61bn) merger between energy groups Suez and Gaz de France.
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French energy group Suez and state-owned Gaz de France announced their merger Monday, creating the world&#39;s fourth biggest energy company by market capitalisation.
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The long-delayed merger of French energy groups Suez and state-owned Gaz de France could be announced next week, creating one of Europe&#39;s biggest power companies after 18 months of delays, a source told AFP on Friday.
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Italian energy group Eni and its French partner Altergaz aim to capture 10 percent of the French gas market now that it is fully open to competition, the director of the French group said Tuesday.
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Russia's Gazprom will supply gas directly to French homes for the first time as part of a deal with Gaz de France.
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PARIS, Feb 15  French President Jacques Chirac called today for developed countries to cut gas emissions to a quarter of current levels by 2050 -- exceeding targets set by the Kyoto pact to combat ...
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The merger of French energy groups GDF and Suez hit more trouble when the Constitutional Council, which rules on the legality of government legislation, said the deal should be delayed until July next year.
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A new round in a bitter fight over French energy privatisation has begun in parliament over a plan for Gaz de France to merge with Suez which also spotlights deep strains in European energy policy.
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Gaz de France and Suez on Monday cleared the way to create the world's third-largest electricity and gas company after their boards approved the revised terms of a politically charged merger.
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Paris says it is confident the controversial Suez-Gaz de France merger will go ahead as the EU investigates it.
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Neelie Kroes, the EU&#39;s controversial new competition commissioner, yesterday signalled to the French authorities that she would block any attempt to protect France&#39;s energy market by engineering a merger between its state-owned electricity and gas groups.