France is riding the current

"France has become the world leader in electricity production", rejoices Le Figaro on its front page, following the August 10 announcement of the acquisition of International Power (IP) by French group GDF Suez. "The interest of the operation is in the geographical expansion of markets: IP opens the door to Australia as well as providing improved contacts in Asia and the Middle East", observes the daily. The new group has posted combined sales of 84 billion euros for 2009, which puts it in second place worldwide in terms of production capacity, just behind another French company, Electricité de France (EDF).