Eramet confirms its €500M capital increase in the fourth quarter, with State support
Eramet confirmed, in a press release published on the evening of October 12, 2026, its intention to launch in the fourth quarter the capital increase with preferential subscription rights (PSR) of €500M announced in February 2026. The mining and metallurgical group presents it as "essential to restore the Group's financial situation", to strengthen its equity, ensure compliance with its banking covenants and continue implementing its strategy.
A subscription scheme that caps the State's voting rights at 49%
The selected scheme is based on an agreement between the two reference shareholders, the State Shareholdings Agency (APE) and Sorame-CEIR. The APE, acting through FSI-Equation, will subscribe irrevocably for its share, representing 27.1% of the capital. It will also purchase all or part of Sorame-CEIR's PSR, with a 5% discount compared to their theoretical value, so that its effective voting rights in the general meeting do not exceed 49%.
If the APE did not purchase all of these rights, Sorame-CEIR would subscribe with the balance. Call options in favor of the APE and put options in favor of Sorame-CEIR would then apply to these new shares, at an exercise price close to the theoretical price after detachment of the right (TERP), and within a limit preventing the State from crossing the 50% capital threshold. Sorame-CEIR has committed to placing its bearer shares and not holding more than 30% of effective voting rights; it would become the second shareholder, and a new shareholders' agreement would be concluded between the two parties.
Other shareholders, including the free float, may exercise their PSR or sell them on the market. The board of directors, which met on October 12, 2026, unanimously adopted this solution (directors representing the reference shareholders abstaining), while several investors had expressed their interest in the transaction since February. According to the group, this solution preserves Eramet's ability to subsequently conclude other partnerships.
AMF waiver and mid-2027 banking deadline frame the transaction
The transaction remains subject to several conditions. The State will request a waiver from the AMF of the obligation to file a public offer, the obtaining of which, free from any recourse, constitutes a suspensive condition to the subscription commitments. The signing of the options would take place after the opinion of the employee representative bodies, and their exercise is conditional on the required regulatory authorizations.
Eramet will launch preparatory work in the coming days with the banking syndicate responsible for supporting it. Execution is scheduled after the publication of third-quarter revenue, set for October 29, 2026, and before the end of the year, subject to market conditions. The group indicates that non-completion by mid-2027 would be detrimental to its financial situation, in particular to compliance with banking covenants at that deadline, and would significantly complicate the refinancing of debts maturing in the short term.
The 2025 financial year was marked by significant losses, adjusted leverage of 5.5x and gearing of 125%, contravening its banking obligations. Its operational performance improved in the first half of 2026. Eramet is pursuing in parallel the other two components of its financing plan: improving its performance (notably ReSolution) and asset monetization. It has also committed not to resume dividend distribution until its adjusted leverage returns below 1x.
