French state to raise about $3 billion in asset sales to focus on strategic sectors

PARIS, May 11 (Reuters) - France's state shareholding agency APE will raise around 2.5 billion euros ($3 billion) from transferring its stakes in three companies to public lender Caisse des Depots, it said on Monday, boosting funds for future strategic investments.

o APE has reached an agreement to sell stakes in housing firm la Société pour le logement intermédiaire (SLI), and the operators of the Mont-Blanc and Frejus tunnels, Autoroutes et tunnel du Mont-Blanc (ATMB) et Société française du tunnel routier du Fréjus (SFTRF)

o Sales come as the state agency increasingly focuses on strategic areas such as defence, recently backing satellite company Eutelsat and taking over Atos' supercomputing unit Bull

o "In an international context marked by increasing tensions, France needs the state, as a shareholder, to continue its expansion by prioritizing assets that directly contribute to our sovereignty," said Finance Minister Roland Lescure in a statement

o The stake sales are subject to regulatory and other approvals

o No other APE asset sales are currently under discussion, according to a Bercy source

($1 = 0.8488 euros)

(Reporting by Dominique PattonEditing by Keith Weir)

By Dominique Patton