Francis Mer

Francis Mer (may 25th, 1939, in Pau) is a French businessman, industrialist and politician. A former alumnus of the Ecole polytechnique, he was hired in 1970 by the Saint-Gobain group. In 1982, he became chairman of the board of Pont-à-Mousson SA. In the 1980s, he joined the Saint-Simon Foundation think-tank.

Following the 1986 legislative elections and the nomination of the conservative Jacques Chirac as Prime Minister, he was nominated as president of the new Usinor group. He was reelected to his position in 1995, upon the group's privatization, and renamed the group Arcelor in 2002. From 2002 to 2004, he was Minister of Finances in Jean-Pierre Raffarin's conservative government.

Since 2005, he seats on the board of directors of Vale Inco, which benefited from an important tax rebate to exploit a nickel mine in New Caledonia, while he was Minister of Finances. [ [http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/49996/000090956706000403/o30490exv99.htm#106 Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders] ] [ [http://www.senat.fr/rap/r05-007/r05-007_mono.html http://www.senat.fr/rap/r05-007/r05-007_mono.html] ] .

In January 2007, he became chairman of the board of Safran.

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