The watchdog has bared its teeth. The AMF's ruling, announced late on Tuesday, that a "concert party" existed between Spanish investors in Eiffage, the France-based construction and toll roads company, shows that the French stock market regulator can be aggressive in a way its counterparts in other European countries rarely match.
The surprise AMF decision forces Sacyr, the Spanish construction group that is Eiffage's principal suitor, to make a cash bid for the French company at a big premium to its current share price - one it may not be able to afford. But it could also have wider ramifications, with the increased likelihood of mandatory early offers being triggered for French companies that are at the centre of takeover battles.
