it was the SIF clause that allowed them to block the deal
Not that I know of. The SIF didn't have any ownership of Dailymotion anymore. Their shares had been bought by Orange.
Montebourg just said publicly he wouldn't let Orange sell, and it killed the deal.
Only slightly related: why do French startups need to take State money? Because we have much less private investment, in part due to our social model. We don't have many pension funds because most of the retirement system is state-owned, we have few private universities because the best part of the higher education is state-owned... So basically we have no LPs.
The SIF didn't have any ownership of Dailymotion anymore. Their shares had been bought by Orange.
Ah, I did not know that, the way I heard it told - behind the scenes - was that their minority stake had that clause in it which gave them the legal power to stop the deal. I'm not sure on what legal grounds the French government would be able to stop this deal otherwise, if not through their control over Orange, which would seem to be a rather blunt instrument.
Because we have much less private investment, in part due to our social model.
We don't have many pension funds because most of the retirement system is state-owned, we have few private universities because the best part of the higher education is state-owned... So basically we have no LPs.
The LPs in most Western European VCs and PE parties are rarely pension funds. More often than not they are successful business people flush from selling earlier ventures. It is the lack of those that causes the dearth of capital in France, coupled with the rather difficult employment climate.
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Not that I know of. The SIF didn't have any ownership of Dailymotion anymore. Their shares had been bought by Orange.
Montebourg just said publicly he wouldn't let Orange sell, and it killed the deal.
Only slightly related: why do French startups need to take State money? Because we have much less private investment, in part due to our social model. We don't have many pension funds because most of the retirement system is state-owned, we have few private universities because the best part of the higher education is state-owned... So basically we have no LPs.
Ah, I did not know that, the way I heard it told - behind the scenes - was that their minority stake had that clause in it which gave them the legal power to stop the deal. I'm not sure on what legal grounds the French government would be able to stop this deal otherwise, if not through their control over Orange, which would seem to be a rather blunt instrument.
The LPs in most Western European VCs and PE parties are rarely pension funds. More often than not they are successful business people flush from selling earlier ventures. It is the lack of those that causes the dearth of capital in France, coupled with the rather difficult employment climate.