France Plans $3B Stake Sale as SoftBank Eyes $100B Investment

France's APE agency will transfer stakes in housing firm SLI and tunnel operators ATMB and SFTRF to public lender Caisse des Dépôts to raise €2.5 billion ($3 billion), refocusing on defense and sovereignty assets like Eutelsat and Atos' Bull. Earlier on May 11, Bloomberg reported SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son considering up to $100 billion investment in France, including multibillion-dollar AI data centers, with SoftBank's $30 billion OpenAI stake underscoring its AI focus. These developments signal institutional flows into France, potentially positive for France 40, though SoftBank details are fluid and stake sales need approvals.