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Linking Arms. The French government, wary of letting foreigners get control of any more big French companies, still takes quite an Interest in Schneider. Aides of Charles de Gaulle were particularly upset by rumors that if Baron Empain wins, he intends to sell Schneider to U.S. interests (the baron vigorously denies it). With discreet government encouragement, a group of big French banks have plotted to counter Empain. One already discussed strategy: in a complex deal, the banks would buy Schneider's 46% holdings in L'Union Europeenne bank and arrange a merger between Schneider and L'Union Europeenne. The result would dilute Empain's holdings in Schneider, and Liliane could count on the big banking group's support. Confident Liliane has so far not felt the need to call upon this rescue operation.
In his marble-columned, tapestried office on Paris' Place de Rio de Janeiro, Baron Empain protests that he does not want to swallow Schneider, but simply to link some of the branches of his empire with some of Schneider's for the sake of efficiency. He has also denied any unchivalrous intention of displacing Liliane. Says he: "Kicking everybody out—I never do that. That's always clumsy in France."