Schneider Electric’s top executive seen in pole position for EDF CEO job-sources

PARIS (Reuters) – Luc Remont, a top executive at Schneider Electric, has emerged as a front-runner for the chief executive job at French nuclear power group EDF, according to two sources close to the matter.

The sources said Remont was the preferred candidate of Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, cautioning however that the final decision lay with President Emmanuel Macron.

EDF, in which the state has an 84% stake, is in the process of being fully nationalised and its long-time chairman and CEO, Jean-Bernard Levy, replaced.

Le Maire said on Tuesday he had sent a shortlist of candidates for Levy’s job to Macron and Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne, and a decision will be made in the next few days.

Remont is currently executive vice-president in charge of international operations at Schneider Electric, which specialises in digital automation and energy management. Le Figaro newspaper first tipped him as the leading candidate for the EDF job on Tuesday.

Some sources have said it was not clear if Levy’s job would be split in two separate roles – chair and CEO – although Le Maire has signalled that he favours a single person at the helm.

EDF, the finance ministry and Schneider Electric declined to comment.

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain, Benjamin Malet and Leigh Thomas, writing by Silvia Aloisi; editing by Richard Lough)