Stockholders of TotalFina SA and Elf Aquitaine SA have approved the firms' merger, and the combined company has been renamed TotalFinaElf SA.
For reasons of brand recognition, it was deemed better to keep all three names. The headquarters are at Elf's building at La D
At a Mar. 22 combined general meeting, a 24-member board was appointed to "reflect the friendly character of the merger," but it will be whittled down to 15 eventually.
The shareholders approved a change in the bylaws to reflect expiration of the agreements linking the company and the French state. This, in fact, mainly means that the state will no longer have a representative on the board (that representative had the power to approve the appointment of a new chairman) and will no longer enjoy particular rights. "This closes a chapter in Total's history at the same time as TotalFinaElf's begins," said Chairman Thierry Desmarest.
He also indicated that, before year- end, the group's new organizational structure will have been implemented, and teams "combining the skills of both groups" will have been formed.
He confirmed the 2 billion euro/ year savings over the next 3 years and said that the divestments required by the European Commission accounted for less than 2% of the group's overall value (OGJ, Feb. 14, 2000, Newsletter). He also confirmed that job cuts would amount to 4,000 out of a workforce of 130,000, of which 2,000 are in France. Job cuts will occur only on a voluntary basis, he says.
