France in Austria | French citizens in Vienna | Bilateral Relations

Austria and France - Read the latest headlines about bilateral relations in the areas of economy, business, investment, diplomacy, culture and tourism

Hutchinson Acquired Orange

The Chinese telecommunication operator takes over Frenche Orange. The acquisition price totals € 1.0bn.

January 14, 2012

Austria to Lose its AAA

According to partially confirmed market rumors, S&P will downgrade France and Austria.

January 13, 2012

T-Mobile and Hutchinson 3G Become Partners

The Austrian subsidiary of the German T-Mobile and the Chinese Hutchinson 3G closed an agreement over a long-term grid partnership.

January 5, 2012

Palmers-Subsidiary Lejaby Under Pressure

A French court opened insolvency proceedings on the subsidiary of the Austrian clothing company.

December 22, 2011

Airport Zagreb: Strabag Not Awarded

Two offers for were submitted for the enlargement of Zagreb Airport. Strabag´s offer has been rejected.

December 13, 2011

Orange-Sale to Chinese Hutchinson Uncertain

The sale of the Austrian subsidiary of France Télécom is not fixed yet. Negotiations already run for four months.

December 12, 2011

La Redoute Leaves Austria

The French owner Redcats decided to close the Salzburg-located branch. The French group has to restructure.

December 8, 2011

Borealis to Acquire French Fertilizer Producer

The Austrian chemical company has made an offer to take over PEC-Rhin in its entirety.

November 25, 2011

bet-at-home.com Continues Growth Course

Gross gaming revenue rose by 10.6% to € 53.23m. Group results declined drastically, however.

November 21, 2011

UBM Improves Results

The Austrian real estate development company presented a moderate rise in earnings. Sales remained stable.

November 12, 2011

Immofinanz Opens New Shopping Center in Romania

Total cost of the Austrian real estate company’s project amounted to € 100m, including a co-investment by French retail chain Auchan.

October 27, 2011

Palmers to be Sold

The owner of the Austrian clothing company are looking for potential buyers. The French subsidiary Lejaby however, is not for sale.

October 25, 2011

UniCredit and Raiffeisen to Expand in Russia

The Italian and the Austrian banking groups will take over customers of the French BNP Paribas, which leaves the Russian market.

October 4, 2011

Andritz Acquires NSC Nonwoven, France and China

Austrian technology Group Andritz has signed a contract to acquire NSC Group’s nonwoven division encompassing its affiliates Asselin-Thibeau (Elbeuf, France) and NSC Wuxi (Wuxi, China).

September 21, 2011

SNCF Acquires Stake in Westbahn

The French national railway company participates with 26% in ÖBB’s new competitor. Operations start on 11 December.

August 24, 2011

Atrium to Develop Hypermarket in Poland

The real estate company will develop a shopping center in the city of Lublin for the French retail chain Auchan.

August 10, 2011

Green Light for Strabag’s Cooperation with Lafarge

The Austrian construction company has wrapped up the acquisition of a 30% stake in the joint venture with the French building material supplier.

August 5, 2011

bwin.fr and sajoo.fr to Merge

The online gaming providers agreed to merge their French businesses. The companies have already been working together since 2008.

July 29, 2011

Verbund Reports Drop in Group Result and Sale of French Poweo

The Austrian electricity group suffered from extraordinarily weak water supply in the first six months of the year. The stake in French Poweo will be sold to competitor Direct Energie.

July 27, 2011

Verbund Sold Renewables Portfolio to Axa Private Equity

The Austrian electricity company disposed of Poweo’s renewable energy business as a step towards restructuring of its portfolio in France.

July 19, 2011

Verbund: Speculations about Increase in Sorgenia Stake

The Austrian electricity company might sell its shares in Poweo and instead acquire its joint venture partner’s stake in Sorgenia.

July 1, 2011

Verbund to Restructure Its Portfolio

The Austrian electricity company is negotiating the sale of French Poweo. Eni and Enel are said to be interested in an acquisition.

June 27, 2011

Bilfinger Berger to Acquire Subsidiary of AE&E

The Czech subsidiary of the insolvent plant manufacturer will become part of the German construction group Bilfinger Berger.

June 20, 2011

Palmers on the Way Back to Black Figures

The Austrian lingerie group’s results are still negative due to the acquisition of Lejaby. An expansion of the Palmers brand is planned in Germany and CEE.

June 15, 2011

France Telecom Evaluating Its Activities in Austria

The future of Orange Austria could be decided before October. The cooperation in networks might have been the first step towards a merger with T-Mobile Austria.

May 25, 2011

Cheuvreux Closing Its Office in Vienna

The French investment bank is closing down its office in Vienna after three years. This has been confirmed by analyst Alfred Reisenberger.

May 20, 2011

Doppelmayr Scores € 105m Contract

Doppelmayr Italia GmbH was awarded the contract for the construction of the new ropeway on the Mont Blanc.

April 29, 2011

It is Official: T-Mobile and Orange Launch Network Cooperation

The German and French telecom companies expect to save € 60m. The network coverage is to increase by 10%.

April 22, 2011

Cooperation between T-Mobile and Orange

A joint radio network is established by the German and the French telecommunications groups in Austria.

April 16, 2011

Austria’s Exposure to Portugal: € 433m

France is clearly the larges creditor of the troubled country. Portugal owes Austria € 433m.

April 8, 2011

Coface: Profit of the Group Better than Before the Crisis in 2010

Austria and the CEE surpasses the international trend: increasing sales, decreasing management costs and lower claims ratio improve financial strength.

April 8, 2011

Wienerberger Acquires French Plastic Pipe Business from Alphacan

Alphacan France is a specialist for the development, production and maketing of PVC pipe systems.

April 5, 2011

Schlumberger Takes Over Distribution of Evian and Volvic

The Austrian sparkling wine producer considers this cooperation a "strategic expansion of the beverage competence by means of international Danone water brands".

April 5, 2011

Presentation of Austrian Top Companies at Equity Day in Paris

The 3rd Austrian Equity Day in Paris, co-organized with Crédit Agricole Cheuvreux, will be held on Friday, 1 April 2011.

March 31, 2011

Orange: Customer Growth and More Profits

The French telecommunications company in Austria managed to increase its profits in Austria despite falling sales.

March 11, 2011

Danone Reports € 63m of Sales

The French producer of dairy products realizes € 63m of sales in Austria. Danone intends to extend its product line with organic products.

March 5, 2011

High mobile phone use by Austrian SMEs

In three out of four SMEs every employee has a cell phone, and half the SMEs can imagine communicating exclusively via mobile telephony.

February 19, 2011

Andritz: Order for Belo Monte is Firm

The French consortium Alstom, together with the German Voith and the Austrian Andritz, jointly supply the Brazilian Hydroelectric Project.

February 11, 2011

Verbund Intends to Grow in Italy and France

The Austrian-Italian joint venture Sorgenia is to expand its commitment to renewable energies in Italy and France.

February 9, 2011

Rising Sales at Internorm

The Upper Austrian window manufacturer increased its sales by 2% in 2010. Despite domestic sales falling, exports are growing all the better.

February 3, 2011

Palmers in the Red

The Austrian lingerie company has to accept operational losses in addition to an unprofitable acquisition.

January 26, 2011

Verbund Starts Restructuring in France

The Austrian energy company takes full control of the Poweo production subsidiary Poweo Production S.A.S.

December 22, 2010

French SNCF Participates in Westbahn Project

The French National Railways acquire a stake of 25% in the Haselsteiner project.

December 17, 2010

SIS to be Sold to Atos Origin

The French Atos Origin Acquired Siemens IT Solutions and Services, both companies expect synergy effects. Drastic job cuts in Vienna are feared.

December 15, 2010

High Expectations about the New AUA Chairman

The Frenchman Thierry Antinori, is to complete successfully for Lufthansa the restructuring of the Austrian subsidiary.

December 8, 2010

Joint Venture Between Swiss and Austrian Post

The Swiss and the Austrian Post have planned a joint venture to bundle international activities. The EU Commission has now issued its authorization.

December 1, 2010

AUA is to Get New Leadership

Austrian Airlines, a Lufthansa subsidiary, is to get the Frenchman Thierry Antinori as its new CEO. The board is to be expanded with this appointment.

November 30, 2010

Romania - BRD Groupe Société Générale to overtake the largest bank Banca Comercială Română (BRC)

Ambitious goals for the Development Bank Romania (BRD): The second-largest institute of the country that belongs to the French Societe Generale (SG) wishes to ascend to the largest bank in Romania by 2015 - and thus pass “Erste” subsidiary BCR.

May 18, 2010