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http://www.newenergyworldnetwork.com/renewable-energy-news/by-technology/solar-by-technology-renewable-energy-news/total-eyes-edf%e2%80%99s-stake-in-joint-solar-venture-tenesol.html

France-headquartered oil giant Total is seeking to take full control of its solar photovoltaic joint venture Tenesol by buying EDF Energies Nouvelles’ 50 per cent stake, according to the local press.

Total has broached talks with EDF regarding the proposed takeover, according to French newspaper Les Echos.
Each company currently holds a 50 per cent stake in the solar joint venture as a result of a partnership between the companies that began in 2005 when both committed equal investments in Total Énergie, which was subsequently renamed Tenesol.
Originally founded in Africa in 1983, Total Énergie established a solar module manufacturing facility named Tenesa in Cape Town in 1996, which EDF subsequently took a 20 per cent stake in.
Total Énergie established a business in Latin America in 2004 before opening a production centre in the French city of Toulouse a year later to capture the European market, more recently establishing myriad of additional bases across France.
This is not the first time that Total has tried to negotiate leadership of the joint venture, following previous attempts to restructure its ownership, another French newspaper Le Figaro said.
EDF subsidiary Green EDF Energies Nouvelles will also be party to the negotiations, as a direct stakeholder in Tenesol.
Earlier this year, Tenesol signed an exclusive distribution partnership with Italian photovoltaic specialist NWG, a company it began working with in 2005, to deliver its products to the Italian market.
Massimo Casullo, CEO of NWG CEO, said at the time, ‘This alliance positions us for the future. It represents a long-term certainty.’