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The logo of payments company Worldline is seen at the company headquarters in the financial and business district of La Defense, near Paris, France, October 26, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON/PARIS, Dec 1 (Reuters) - French digital payments company Worldline (WLN.PA) is considering options including asset sales as part of efforts to reassure shareholders after a sharp drop in its share price, three people familiar with the matter said. Another said assets sales may come from its software businesses but suggested these might not be sizeable enough to revitalise its shares. Other French banks could also partner with Credit Agricole for a role in Worldline's future, this person added. Bloomberg first reported Credit Agricole's interest in buying a stake in Worldline, prompting its shares to soar by almost 12% earlier on Friday.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Worldline, Adyen, Tommaso Nieddu, Amy, Jo Crowley, Mathieu Rosemain, Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Diana Mandiá Álvarez, Gaëlle Sheehan, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: La Defense, REUTERS, Worldline's Mobility, Worldline, Credit Agricole SA, Credit Agricole, Bloomberg, Credit, Thomson Locations: La, Paris, France, PARIS, Germany, appeasing, Worldline's, U.S, Worldline

Amundi signed a 10-year distribution accord in 2017 when it bought UniCredit's Pioneer Investments for 3.6 billion euros. Credit Agricole CEO Philippe Brassac told reporters this month it was no secret UniCredit was looking at ways "to optimise" the accord with Amundi. Orcel, sources have said, is unhappy with the amount of Amundi funds the accord binds UniCredit to place with customers. UniCredit had 134 billion euros in AUM from fund and portfolio management as of Sept. 30. If their relationship ended after 2027, it would still take UniCredit time to replace Amundi funds with other products.

Persons: Sarah Meyssonnier, Amundi, Andrea Orcel, UniCredit, Philippe Brassac, Brassac, Orcel, Azimut, Valentina Za, Mathieu Rosemain, Silvia Aloisi, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Investments, Agricole, Credit, Amundi, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, MILAN, Italy, Italian, Milan

A UBS logo is seen next to Credit Suisse at the Bahnhofstrasse before a news conference of Swiss bank UBS in Zurich Switzerland, August 30, 2023. The court, which also upheld the guilty verdict against the bank, said a new trial would need to take place at the Paris appeals court to determine a new fine, if any. UBS's shares, which were already up on the day, spiked as much as 3% more after news broke that the 1.8 billion-euro fine was struck down. The decision by the Cour de Cassation, France's highest judicial court, means the guilty verdict on UBS is final. France's top court reviewed whether the Paris appeals court ruling had complied with the law, not the facts that underpinned its decision.

Persons: Denis Balibouse, UBS's, " Keefe, Woods, Tassilo Hummel, Mathieu Rosemain, Stefania Spezzati, Silvia Aloisi, Mark Potter Organizations: UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss, REUTERS, of, Cassation, Thomson Locations: Zurich Switzerland, Paris, PARIS, Cour, Swiss, France, United States, Mozambique

The entrance to JPMorgan Chase's international headquarters on Park Avenue is seen in New York October 2, 2012. It is the bank's third-biggest city in the European Union in terms of staff with 900 people, coming after Warsaw (1,200) and Dublin (more than 1,000). In the wake of Britain's exit from the European Union, JPMorgan bought a seven-storey building near its historic headquarters in the first arrondissement to house more employees. JPMorgan will commit $50 million of the $60 million investment and Bpifrance will provide 10 million euros ($10.66 million). The aim is to raise between 150 million euros to 200 million euros by the end of 2024, the U.S. lender said.

Persons: Shannon Stapleton, Bpifrance, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, Mathieu Rosemain, Anousha Sakoui, Louise Heavens Organizations: JPMorgan Chase's, REUTERS, Rights, JPMorgan, U.S, European Union, Gardens, Justice, Ritz Paris Hotel, Spark, JPMorgan Asset Management, Thomson Locations: New York, France, London, Paris, Europe, Warsaw, Dublin, U.S, Vendome, Spark France

[1/2] The branch of Credit Agricole bank is seen in Warsaw, Poland, July 3, 2018. Its net income jumped 33% to 1.75 billion euros ($1.87 billion), above the 1.37 billion expected by analysts in a company-compiled poll. Group revenue rose 19% to 6.34 billion euros, topping the 5.99 billion expected by analysts. It reported lower-than-expected provisions of 429 million euros, helping its bottom line. Credit Agricole controls Europe's largest fund manager Amundi (AMUN.PA) and recently announced plans to acquire Belgian wealth management firm Degroof Petercam.

Persons: Marcin Goclowski, Morgan, Amundi, Degroof, Mathieu Rosemain, Augustin Turpin, Silvia Aloisi, Jason Neely Organizations: Credit Agricole, REUTERS, Credit, Credit Agricole Group, Societe Generale, BNP, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Thomson Locations: Credit, Warsaw, Poland, PARIS, Italy, France

NII at the French retail division fell by 27% in the quarter, excluding two regulated savings accounts, "well below expectations," JP Morgan said in a note to clients. The French lender said it now saw NII of its French retail, private banking and insurance division falling by more than 20% in 2023. The French retail division's earnings also suffered from hedging contracts against the risks of low interest rates. SocGen's shares had edged up 0.6% by 0924 GMT. The bank has also finalised the merger of its two French retail networks.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, JP Morgan, SocGen, Slawomir Krupa, Jefferies, Krupa, ALD, Mathieu Rosemain, Silvia Aloisi, Ingrid Melander, Emelia Organizations: Societe Generale, La Defense, REUTERS, European Central Bank, BNP, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Thomson Locations: La, Paris, France

One of them said that the cut off point could be closer to 6 billion euros ($6.33 billion). Some analysts had already questioned Renault's hoped-for valuation of up to 10 billion euros, with some suggesting the carmaker should pursue alternative options to raise cash. De Meo said in September that the listing could value Ampere at between 8 and 10 billion euros, above the French carmaker's own current market capitalisation of 9.55 billion euros. Other EV makers have seen their market value fall sharply in recent months. The Ampere IPO would include a mix of Renault's shares and new shares and could happen as early as April 2024, one of the people said, depending on market conditions.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Ampere, France's, Tesla, Renault's, Luca de Meo, China's Geely, IPOs, De Meo, Bernstein, de Meo, Elon Musk's Tesla, Mathieu Rosemain, Silvia Aloisi, Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro, Gilles Guillaume, Anousha Sakoui, Alexander Smith Organizations: Renault, Viva Technology, Porte de, REUTERS, Reuters, DKV Mobility, HK, Saudi Arabia's Aramco, Nissan, IPOs Renault, EV, Commission, UBS, Barclays, Ampere, Mitsubishi, Thomson Locations: Porte, Paris, France, LONDON, China, Saudi, Europe, Ampere, Elon

To this aim UniCredit wants to get to around 20 billion euros of in-house funds, Orcel said. UniCredit and Amundi are tied by a 10-year distribution agreement they signed in 2017, when UniCredit sold its internal asset manager Pioneer to Amundi. Orcel, who has been working to increase the bank's fee income since arriving in 2021, said on Tuesday UniCredit had been "rebalancing" its relationship with Amundi. By replacing the Amundi funds with its own products or those of partners who pay the bank more to sell their funds, UniCredit increases the portion of distribution fees in asset management it pockets. "In terms of value, I think in-house, strictly speaking, we're looking at about 20 billion euros," he said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Andrea Orcel, UniCredit, Orcel, Valérie Baudson, Amundi, Mathieu Rosemain, Valentina Za, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Paris

The logo of Atos is pictured at the Eurosatory international defence and security exhibition in Villepinte, near Paris, France June 13, 2022. Mustier, credited with restoring UniCredit's capital strength, will be tasked to revive investors' trust after a governance crisis and a series of setbacks pummelled Atos' shares, now trading at near record lows. Atos shares jumped by more than 20% in early Paris trading but reversed course in the morning. The planned sale of Atos's loss-making legacy IT operations, dubbed Tech Foundations, to Kretinsky is opposed by some minority shareholders and several French politicians. Atos on Monday reiterated the plan to sell Tech Foundations to Kretinsky under the terms announced in August, although it signalled some of the financial terms could change.

Persons: Benoit Tessier, Bertrand Meunier, Kretinsky, Jean, Pierre Mustier, Daniel Kretinksy, Atos, Mustier, pummelled Atos, Kretinsky's, Mathieu Rosemain, Pierre John Felcenloben, Christian Schmollinger, Navaratnam, Louise Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Tech Foundations, Tech, Atos, Kretinsky, Thomson Locations: Villepinte, Paris, France, Czech, Kretinsky, Eviden, French, Atos

"We are negatively surprised by lack of revenue growth, increased capital target, payout & ROTE cut, and by the lack of details," Jefferies analysts said in a note. It also said its new targets were based on annual revenue growth expectations between zero and 2% between 2022 and 2026, but that it would aim to improve its cost-to-income ratio. A SocGen veteran and former head of its investment bank, Krupa said he would streamline the bank's activities but didn't elaborate. The share price decline put SocGen on course for the biggest one-day drop since March. "It will take time for the shares to discount the cost improvement given SG's mixed track record," they said.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Krupa, Slawomir Krupa, SocGen, JP Morgan, Tassilo Hummel, Silvia Aloisi, Elisa Martinuzzi, Michal Alexandrowicz, Mathieu Rosemain, Ingrid Melander, Mark Potter Organizations: Societe Generale, La Defense, REUTERS, BNP, Jefferies, Thomson Locations: La, Paris, France, Russia

REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON/DUBLIN, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Societe Generale's (SOGN.PA) much-hyped new strategy plans were given a thumbs down by investors on Monday, underscoring uncertainty over European banks as they face a brittle economy. "There are more questions about the future and the economy," Legras said, adding that transformative mergers between banks, which investors have waited for in vain, remained unlikely. Reuters GraphicsThat dampens the prospects for Europe's banks, whose valuations are low and static, said one adviser who works with top executives from the region's lenders, adding that investors struggle to see much promise for the sector. European banks' modest earning power has dampened investor appetite for their shares, which often trade at just a fraction of book value - the sum of their assets. While in the United States, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are valued at around 1.5 times book value, Germany's Deutsche Bank, Dutch lender ABN Amro, France's Credit Agricole and Britain's Standard Chartered are valued at just half book value or less.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Jerome Legras, Legras, Slawomir Krupa, Krupa, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Frederic Rozier, Morgan Stanley, Karel Lannoo, Elisa Martinuzzi, John O'Donnell, Alexander Smith Organizations: Societe Generale, La Defense, REUTERS, Reuters, European Central Bank, European Union, Commission, Deutsche Bank, ABN Amro, France's Credit, Thomson Locations: La, Paris, France, DUBLIN, France's, Europe, United States, Germany, Mirabaud, U.S, Brussels

An advertising board is seen during the first demonstration of the technology 5G in Lisbon, Portugal June 4, 2018. The review by the banks, including Lazard, BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, will involve some of Altice's major assets in the region, including SFR, France's second-biggest telecoms group, the person said. Altice, Morgan Stanley and BNP declined to comment, while spokespeople for Lazard and Goldman Sachs weren't immediately available for comment. Drahi told investors in August he felt "shocked" and "betrayed" by the ongoing corruption probe in Portugal, which led to the suspension of fifteen employees in Portugal, France and the United States and dozens of suppliers. Altice is already close to a deal to sell its data centres in France to Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, French newspaper Les Echos reported on Wednesday.

Persons: Rafael Marchante, Altice, Lazard, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, France's, Goldman Sachs weren't, Patrick Drahi, Armando Pereira, Drahi, Les Echos, Mathieu Rosemain, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, BNP, Lazard, Altice, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, Thomson Locations: Lisbon, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Altice France, France, United States

Assets will be sold within Altice France or outside France to repay debt, Drahi told investors on a conference call. "(The aims is) to raise, one way or another, 3 billion (euros) of equity, plus or minus," Drahi said. Altice France's net leverage ratio at end of June was 6.3 times its yearly core operating profits. Altice France's net debt was close to 24 billion euros at the end of June, up from 23.6 billion at end of March, the group said. Total earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to 1.02 billion euros from 1.08 billion euros a year earlier.

Persons: Patrick Drahi, Philippe Wojazer, Drahi, Dennis Okhuijsen, Altice, Portugal Altice's, Armando Pereira, Pereira, Mathieu Rosemain, Ingrid Melander, Silvia Aloisi, Mark Potter Organizations: Altice Group, REUTERS, Altice, Thomson Locations: Franco, Israeli, Paris, France, PARIS, Altice France, Portugal

Fifteen employees have been put on leave in Portugal, France and the United States since news broke about the probe, which is currently limited to Portugal, said Drahi. Pressed by analysts on the call to lay out the role and extent of Pereira's involvement within the Altice group, Drahi said Pereira, whom he hired in 2003, had not held any stake in any Altice entity since 2005. Altice International, the entity that owns telecoms firm PT Portugal, is owned by Drahi's personal holding Next. The other two entities are Altice USA and Altice France, home to France's second biggest telecoms firm SFR. The debt has come under further pressure since Pereira's July detention, with longer-term debt issued by Altice France trading around 80 cents to the euro while those of Altice France Holding trade around 40 cents to the euro.

Persons: Patrick Drahi, Violeta Santos Moura, Drahi, Armando Pereira, Pereira, Altice, Mathieu Rosemain, Yoruk Bahceli, Ingrid Melander, Silvia Aloisi, Conor Humphries Organizations: French, REUTERS, Altice, PT Portugal, Altice International, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Portugal, United States, Altice France

FILE PHOTO-A woman walks past a Credit Agricole logo outside a bank office in Reze near Nantes, France, May 12, 2021. The results boosted Credit Agricole SA's (CAGR.PA) stock, which was up by about 5% at 0817 GMT, making it the best performer within France's blue-chip index CAC 40 (.FCHI). Helping the positive sentiment, the investment vehicle of the mutual banks that control Credit Agricole said it would spend 1 billion euros on the bank's shares, further tightening its grip on the lender. The vehicle currently owns 60.2% of Credit Agricole SA and said it had no intention to go beyond 65%. Degroof Petercam has client assets of 71 billion euros, while Indosuez said it had assets under management of 130 billion euros at the end of 2022.

Persons: Stephane Mahe, Degroof, France's, JP Morgan, Degroof Petercam, Indosuez, Xavier Musca, Musca, Mathieu Rosemain, Geert de Clercq, Piotr Lipinski, Ingrid Melander, Augustin Turpin, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Agricole, CAC, PARIS, Credit Agricole, Credit Agricole SA, Royal Bank of Canada, Barclays, Credit Agricole's, Indosuez, KBC, Thomson Locations: Reze, Nantes, France, Belgian

The beat was underpinned by much lower-than-expected "cost of risk" - money set aside for failing loans - of 166 million euros. Analysts had expected 430 million euros. Dubbed a "year of transition" by Krupa's predecessor Frederic Oudea, 2023 is also marked by a severe downturn at SocGen's French retail banking division, fresh from a merger of its two local networks. The second quarter was also affected by negative exceptional items of 240 million euros, which Credit Suisse analysts said were tied to "legacy legal disputes". Retail banking outside France fared better, as did SocGen's car leasing division ALD Automotive (ALDA.PA), whose sales jumped by more than 17% thanks to the acquisition of rival LeasePlan.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Krupa, Slawomir Krupa, France's, Jefferies, Frederic Oudea, Intesa, LeasePlan, SocGen, Mathieu Rosemain, Augustin Turpin, Ingrid Melander, Mark Potter Organizations: Societe Generale, La Defense, REUTERS, Royal Bank of Canada, European Central Bank, Credit Suisse, Retail, ALD Automotive, Thomson Locations: French, Courbevoie, Paris, France, PARIS, Russia

Atos also said on Tuesday that it plans a 900 million-euro share sale to further shore up its balance sheet. The company said 180 million euros of the shares in the capital raise would be reserved for EPEI, giving it a 7.5% stake in Eviden. The sale of the remaining 720 million euros of new shares will be underwritten by BNP Paribas and JP Morgan, the company said. The expected sale would bring in 100 million euros in cash and cut 1.9 billion euros worth of liabilities from the tech company's balance sheet, Atos said. The sale gives an enterprise value of 2 billion euros to the sold division, which generated 4.5 billion euros of core revenue last year and employs 52,000 people.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Atos, JP Morgan, Nathalie Senechault, Paul Saleh, Mathieu Rosemain, Sudip Kar, Edmund Klamann, Sharon Singleton Organizations: PARIS, Casino, Tech Foundations, Equity Investment, BNP, Thomson Locations: Czech, Europe, France, Eviden

The talks, announced with Kretinsky's EP Equity Investment (EPEI) vehicle, come on top of a 900 million-euro share-sale plan, aimed at further shoring up Atos' balance sheet, the company said. The expected sale would bring in 100 million euros in cash and cut 1.9 billion euros worth of liabilities from the tech company's balance sheet, Atos said. It gives an enterprise value of 2 billion euros to the sold division, named Tech Foundations. Tech Foundations, whose activities generated 4.5 billion euros of revenue last year, offers infrastructure management services. Following the sale of the tech unit, Atos will still rename as Eviden.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Atos, Nathalie Senechault, Paul Saleh, Mathieu Rosemain, Sudip Kar, Edmund Klamann, Sharon Singleton Organizations: PARIS, Kretinsky's, Equity Investment, Tech Foundations, Tech, Casino, Thomson Locations: Czech, Paris, French, France

PARIS, July 28 (Reuters) - Amundi (AMUN.PA), Europe's biggest fund manager, posted better-than-expected quarterly net inflows on Friday as investors' appetite for risk-averse products underpinned a 1.9% yearly growth in assets under management. This beat the analyst consensus compiled by the company, which predicted a decrease of 1.1 billion euros in three-month period ending in June. Baudson also said that the reopening of China's economy started to have a positive effect on net inflows stemming from its joint venture with Bank of China, leading to "very slightly positive" net inflows in the second quarter. Amundi's second-quarter earnings also beat expectations, with adjusted net income totaling 320 million euros, up 19% from a year earlier. ($1 = 0.9098 euros)Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Conor HumphriesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Valerie Baudson, Baudson, Amundi's, Mathieu Rosemain, Conor Humphries Organizations: Europe's, Bank of, Thomson Locations: Bank of China

The French lender's second-quarter net income fell 4.9% on a reported basis to 2.81 billion euros ($3.12 billion), beating the 2.49 billion euro analyst consensus compiled by the company. Group revenue fell 1.5% to 11.4 billion euros, also above expectations, while the cost of risk - money put aside for failing loans - was lower than expected at 689 million euros. BNP's bottom line also suffered from a set of exceptional items that totalled 723 million euros after tax. These included an 125 million euro provision for unspecified litigation. The group's 5 billion euro share buyback programme will proceed as planned, it confirmed, adding that the second tranche of 2.5 billion euros had been approved and will be launched from early August.

Persons: Italy's, Mathieu Rosemain, Christopher Cushing, Jason Neely, David Goodman Organizations: BNP, Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of, European Central Bank, Spain's Santander, Thomson Locations: PARIS, Bank, France

PARIS, July 25 (Reuters) - France's Thales (TCFP.PA) said on Tuesday it would buy U.S. cybersecurity company Imperva in a deal worth $3.6 billion as it steps up expansion away from its historic defence business to the war against hacking. "This really changes our scale in civil cybersecurity," Thales Chief Executive Patrice Caine told analysts, adding that the deal represented a rare opportunity to become a premium player on a global scale in cybersecurity. Thales said the price of the deal implied an enterprise value of 17 times 2024 operating earnings. Thales said buying Imperva would generate around $110 million of pretax synergies, including $50 million of cost savings and $60 million linked to revenue opportunities. Thales said the deal would close in 2024 subject to approvals, and did not anticipate significant hurdles.

Persons: Thoma, Patrice Caine, Thales, Jefferies, Chloe Lemarie, Caine, Morgan Stanley, Sudip Kar, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Kim Coghill, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Thales, Thoma Bravo, PwC, Cobham Aerospace Communications, Thomson Locations: cybersecurity, France, Paris, Europe

It leaves Kretinsky, who submitted a revised offer over the weekend proposing the equity injection, as the only bidder. The cash injection plan would lead to a 4.7 billion-euro reduction in overall debt, Casino said. Casino is saddled with net debt of 6.4 billion euros and is teetering on the brink of default. The board meeting followed a separate meeting between Casino's creditors and CIRI - France's finance ministry body that helps distressed companies and their creditors draw up restructuring plans. Kretinsky and Ladreit de Lacharriere would control the investment vehicle behind the 1.2 billion-euro equity injection, a source said.

Persons: Daniel Kretinsky, Kretinsky's, Xavier Niel, Jean, Charles Naouri, Kretinsky, Niel, Matthieu Pigasse, Moez, Alexandre Zouari, Casino, Marc Ladreit de, Ladreit, Mathieu Rosemain, Mike Harrison, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Casino, 3F, Attestor, French, Monde, Fnac, Metro, Forbes, Thomson Locations: Czech, PARIS, French, Paris, Casino, Britain, France, Germany

"We're keeping a particularly close eye on the current tensions between the U.S. and China," said Florent Menegaux, chief executive of French tyremaker Michelin. "When we see the impact that the IRA will have (on European companies), I think we haven't talked enough about it at this conference," a senior banker said. "There is a big risk that European companies will shift their investments (from Europe to the United States)." Some say the main concern is the time taken by European Union authorities to respond. "I understand the frustration, but when you look at the details of the extent to which the United States is subsidising its domestic industry, it is not greater than what the Europeans do themselves," Boushey said.

Persons: Jean, Dominique Senard, Ludovic Marin, Florent Menegaux, Menegaux, Christel Bories, Bories, Veronika Grimm, Heather Boushey, Boushey, Mathieu Rosemain, David Holmes Organizations: Renault SA, U.S, French, Michelin, Renault, European Union, Reuters, White House Council, Economic Advisers, Thomson Locations: Japan, Douai, France, PROVENCE, United States, China, Europe, Indonesia, America

"There's no real consensus at the moment about the increase in interest rates among economic actors," Jeremie Delecourt, chief operating officer at French private equity fund Ardian, told Reuters. In the euro zone, the peak is near after a combined 4 percentage points rise in the past year, ECB policymaker and French central bank governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on a panel at the conference. But he also said that rates would be left high for as long as necessary to ensure that inflation is headed back to the European Central Bank's 2% target by 2025. The ECB raised interest rates to their highest level in 22 years last month and promised another hike this month, with possibly another in September. "I see quite a bit of optimism in the short term, but I see a lot of downside risks if there is a policy mistake, especially from the central banks," she added.

Persons: Jeremie Delecourt, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, Jean, Louis Girodolle, Lazard, Mario Draghi's, Somersan Coqui, Daniel Barneix, Barneix, Veronika Grimm, Leigh Thomas, Alexander Smith Organizations: Reuters, ECB policymaker, Central, ECB, Atlantic, Allianz Trade, Thomson Locations: PROVENCE, France, United States, Europe, Aix, Provence

REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File PhotoSummaryCompanies Talks involve potential prepayment accord with carmakersMiner in talks with state-owned companies in Chile over lithiumAIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, July 9 (Reuters) - French mining group Eramet (ERMT.PA) is in talks with several European carmakers over commercial agreements that would help the company finance its lithium production project in Argentina, Chief Executive Officer Christel Bories said. "We're positioning ourselves (in Chile), we have discussions with state-owned companies," Bories said, with the aim to gain potential lithium concessions "in the coming months." Demand for electric vehicles (EVs) has increased as climate-conscious consumers snap up cars with electric powertrains, amid soaring fuel prices. Bories confirmed commodities group Glencore (GLEN.L) was among parties to have expressed interest in helping finance Eramet's lithium production in Argentina. She declined to elaborate further or give the names of the European carmakers involved in the talks.

Persons: Benoit Tessier, carmakers Miner, Christel Bories, Bories, We're, Mathieu Rosemain, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: REUTERS, carmakers, Manufacturers, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Chile, PROVENCE, Argentina, United States, China, Aix, Provence, South America

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