The saga continues:

Atos wins financial lifeline as it seeks more than €1bn in new financing

New today with Leila Abboud

on.ft.com/3xvLcCR

France’s spending turns into political liability for Emmanuel Macron ft.com/content/85b7c8… via Leila Abboud

European defence collaboration can work : How the Storm Shadow missile maker MBDA launched a new model of European defence co-operation via Financial Times ⁦Leila Abboud⁩
⁦⁦Sylvia Pfeifer⁩ 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇮🇹🇩🇪 on.ft.com/4cL8JzN

European missile maker MBDA doles out top executive jobs by nationality —chair is always a Brit, CEO French, and on. It’s just one way they’ve forged something rare in Europe — real cross border collaboration on costly weapons programmes sans messy infighting Sylvia Pfeifer

“Compared with anyone else, they have got rid of nationalism” - how MBDA became a pan-European defence champion ft.com/content/3914c6… via Leila Abboud and me

To the commentary suggesting (I think wrongly) that Macron’s hardened line against Russia is purely electoral, two charts:

1) no change in the wide gap between Le Pen’s RN and Macron’s Renaissance. If this shift is designed to mobilise his base or close the gap it does neither

Given that some of the biggest borrowers in the European high-yield bond market are now threatening to take value away from lenders through the Swiss-cheese holes in their covenants, thought a good time to re-up this old thread of mine for generalists looking to get up to speed!

Dans ma nouvelle note pour FIPECO fipeco.fr/commentaire/Le… j'examine les prélèvements obligatoires sur travail, capital et consommation de 2016 à 2022 en France et dans l'Union européenne

Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner, said today he left Atos with 'no debt', and that it ran in trouble after he left.
This is not consistent with Atos financial statements
At June 30th 2019 - net debt was €2.9bn
At December 31st 2019 - net debt was €1.7bn
(Breton left in October)

My weekend profile on Gucci’s new designer, profit warnings, and the woes of Kering, with Silvia Sciorilli Borrelli:

With cameos from Mark Ronson, Julia Roberts & the one semester of Italian I took in college.

Sabato de Sarno, the designer who must turn around Gucci on.ft.com/4ctrmI7

“Online fake news and hybrid campaigns increase ahead of European elections” ⁦Leila Abboud⁩ ⁦Henry Foy⁩ & ⁦Paula Erizanu⁩ #EUElections #Russia on.ft.com/3TMdOAu

This is probably the most informative thread you will find on the subject.

On vous avait fait un teasing hier - le voilà, le fameux. Enregistré après 2 déclarations de Macron sur ce qu’il n’exclut pas de faire en Ukraine - et heureusement avant son affirmation d’une “guerre existentielle” - ce qui aurait rajouté à peu près 2h de discussion à ce podcast

François Ecalle, l’« influenceur » des finances publiques lemonde.fr/politique/arti… via Le Monde

Il y a pile 4 ans, le 17 mars 2020 à midi, début du premier #confinement .

La suite est désormais connue.

leparisien.fr/societe/corona…

Euro security debates are beyond maddening. At least in the US we’re fighting over the right thing: money. To paraphrase James Carville, “it’s the funding, stupid!” The German/Taurus Macron/strat-ambiguity discussions distract from the real issue: will Europe find the money? 1/

Shipping magnate Rodolphe Saadé to buy French news channel BFM via ⁦Leila Abboud⁩

There it is. The Altice deal’s that everyone said Drahi wouldn’t do are about to start happening? on.ft.com/3vg0E5d

Macron is not mincing words anymore about what's at stake in Ukraine:

'If Russia wins the war, the credibility of Europe would be reduced to zero...'

Macron's alliance has put the war in Ukraine at centre of its EU election campaign as it seeks to narrow a big polling gap with far-right RN. Will it work?

ft.com/content/c48faf…