JULY 28, 2003

French government dumps more Renault stock

The French government on Monday sold another 8.5% of Renault, raising around $1.3bn for the public coffers. The move reduces the government's stake in the car company to around 17% although the firm retains around 20% of the voting rights. The government remains the biggest shareholder but is in the process of selling off many of the country's holdings in its biggest companies, a policy which has been pursued in recent months by the right wing government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

Renault remains firmly under French control however as 15% of the share are owned by Nissan, which is itself controlled by Renault.