BRIEF-French state holding firm APE eyes more M&A deals in 2017
April 5 France/APE state holding firm:
* Martin Vial, who heads French state holding agency APE, tells Le Monde newspaper in an interview that APE could sell off more state holdings in companies or buy more stakes
* The APE sold its 12.7 percent stake in carmaker PSA Group to the country's Bpifrance sovereign wealth fund, the two government bodies announced on March 27
* Emmanuel Macron, the centrist candidate currently tipped by polls to win the French presidential election, has pledged to set up a 10 billion euros ($10.7 billion) fund to promote industrial and research projects, to be financed by selling down shares in companies where the state owns a minority stake and by dividends from state-owned shares.
* Conservative candidate Francois Fillon has also said he was favourable towards privatisations of state shareholdings in order to raise cash for investments in major infrastructure projects.
* France has significant holdings in several large companies including Air France, Airbus, Peugeot , Renault, Orange AND Engie .
($1 = 0.9376 euros)
Further company coverage: (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta)