An increase of 16.4% in one year. The valuation of the French State’s participation portfolio reached €209.1 billion in mid-2025, an increase of 16.4% in one year, according to a report from the State Participation Agency (APE) published this Friday, October 24. The APE, the investment arm of the government, is present in 86 French companies, particularly in the energy, industry, finance and transport sectors. He works in both publicly traded and unlisted companies.
About twenty companies represent almost all of the portfolio’s turnover. Among the most important are Thales, Safran, Airbus, Air France-KLM, Renault and Orange. The total value of the State’s holdings reached 209.1 billion euros as of June 30, 2025, compared to 179.6 billion euros a year earlier, of which 67.9 billion euros correspond to shares held in listed companies, compared to 50 billion euros in mid-2024, the APE details in its activity report.
Performance driven by defense and aeronautics
Throughout the year, profitability was driven by the good results of companies in the defense and aeronautics sector, but also of the operator Orange (+38.1% in the period). The portfolio performance of listed companies reached 35% in one year, clearly exceeding that of the CAC 40 (2.5%), rejoices the APE, headed by the Commissioner for State Participations, Alexis Zajdenweber.
This translates into an increase in dividends received by the State, allocated directly to the State budget, or 4.3 billion euros in 2025, compared to 2.4 billion euros the previous year. The end of 2024 was marked by the acquisition by the State of the company Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), which produces and installs submarine cables.
New agreement with Atos
In 2025, the State also signed an agreement with Atos for the purchase of certain strategic activities, including, in particular, supercomputers used for nuclear deterrence purposes. The operation should be completed in the first half of 2026. It is also worth highlighting the acquisition by the APE in June of 13% of the capital of Eutelsat in the hands of Bpifrance. Next, the French State subscribed to a capital increase, increasing its participation to 29.99% and becoming the largest shareholder of the satellite operator.
The APE specifies that it has initiated a “comprehensive review” of its portfolio at the request of the former Bayrou government.
Source: BFM TV
