Electricite de France SA Chief Executive Officer Henri Proglio will be replaced by Thales SA (HO) Chairman and CEO Jean-Bernard Levy as head of the world’s biggest atomic operator, said two people familiar with the matter.
The board of state-controlled EDF is scheduled to meet tomorrow to name a successor and appoint 12 directors to replace those whose mandates run out Nov. 22. The decision was made by President Francois Hollande, according to the people, who asked not to be identified.
EDF spokeswoman Carole Trivi declined to comment ahead of the board meeting.
The appointment would end months of speculation about Proglio’s future at the helm of Europe’s biggest power generator, with nuclear reactors in France and the U.K. The French government has an 84.5 percent stake.
Levy, 59, took charge of Thales, Europe’s biggest defense electronics company, almost two years ago. He is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique, one of France’s top engineering schools, and started his career in 1979 with France Telecom, according to the website of Thales. He was chairman of the management board of Vivendi from 2005 to 2012 before joining the weapons maker.
Proglio, 65, has headed EDF since November 2009 after being named by the former government. The utility’s 58 French reactors provide more than three-quarters of the nation’s electricity, a higher proportion than in any other country.
Under Proglio’s administration EDF has extricated itself from a nuclear deal in the U.S., reached an agreement to develop an atomic plant in the U.K., resolved a financing deficit for renewable energy and embarked on an investment plan for aging French reactors. It has also pushed ahead with developing new reactors in France and China.
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