France is looking at options to help Lebanon recover from its financial crisis, including an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme if Beirut seeks one, a minister said on Monday, Reuters reported. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire also told reporters in Abu Dhabi that he had discussed the situation in Lebanon with the United Arab Emirates leadership. “We are very concerned,” Le Maire said, adding that the United Arab Emirates and France will decide separately if and how to support the government in Beirut.

The coronavirus outbreak is threatening to scupper a debt refinancing for the world’s third-largest container shipping company, Bloomberg News reported. France’s CMA CGM SA is aiming to start refinancing its debt pile by the end of next month. The Marseille-based company, one of the biggest maritime carriers out of China, is seeking to extend about $400 million of loans and is also in talks with creditors to refinance about 725 million euros ($784 million) of bonds due in January.

British Steel’s Chinese bidder has written to the French government in an effort to save its stalling takeover of the collapsed UK manufacturer, the Financial Times reported. With the clock ticking down on a deadline for the deal to be completed, Chinese conglomerate Jingye has sent a letter to the French finance ministry to persuade Paris of the plan’s merits, said people with knowledge of the matter. UK officials agreed a £50m rescue deal with Jingye in November. Under the agreement, Jingye would take control of the group’s plants in Britain, France and the Netherlands.

Renault has been punished for its weak full-year results last week with a downgrade of its credit rating into junk territory by Moody’s, the rating agency, the Financial Times reported. The downgrade of the French carmaker’s debt to Ba1, just below investment grade, “was triggered by Renault’s substantially weakened operating performance reported for the year 2019”, said Moody’s in a statement on Tuesday evening.

The French government is set to block the sale of its British Steel factory to Jingye, throwing doubts on the rescue of the failed UK manufacturer. In October, Chinese conglomerate Jingye agreed to buy British Steel in a £50m rescue deal, saving 5,000 jobs and promising £1.2bn investment, the Financial Times reported. For the takeover of all of British Steel’s assets to go ahead, Jingye needs approval from authorities in Paris as the steelmaker’s plant in Hayange, northern France, is deemed a strategic industrial asset.

French retail group Fnac Darty is being sued for £115m by the liquidator to Comet, the UK electrical chain it used to own. Fnac Darty sold Comet for £2 a year before it collapsed but received £115m as part of a controversial financing agreement with the new owners, the Financial Times reported. The failure of Comet in 2012 left UK taxpayers footing a £44m bill and more than 6,000 staff losing their jobs.

Shares in two of France’s biggest retailers fell sharply on Friday, as public sector strikes that have caused gridlock in Paris and other major cities weighed on earnings over the festive season, the Financial Times reported. Sprawling supermarket group Casino fell more than 10 per cent in early trading, leaving it on track for its worst day since 2015, while electronics retailer Fnac Darty fell 11 per cent.

French marine services group Bourbon Corporation, which has been in the process of a debt restructuring, said its assets would be taken over by its creditors, Riviera Maritime Media reported. The news comes in light of Bourbon’s ongoing legal proceedings. The Commercial Court of Marseille ruled that Bourbon’s assets be transferred to Société Phocéenne de Participations (SPP) on 2 January 2020.

French marine services group Bourbon Corporation, which has been in a court restructuring process after its business was hit by volatile energy markets, said its assets would be taken over by its creditor banks, Reuters reported. Bourbon said the Marseille commercial court had ruled that Bourbon’s assets would be transferred to Société Phocéenne de Participations (SPP) from Jan. 2, 2020.