1982-1986
Nationalisation
An exogenous development promptly shelved those plans: a left-wing coalition won France’s 1981 presidential election and the group was nationalised in 1982.
Bull, government authorities decided, would be more useful in another organisation, and was sold. During its brief spell under government control (1982-1986), Saint-Gobain motioned towards the corporate sector, public works or downstream services, but political and/or economic circumstances foiled its attempts. It regained its freedom – and took stock of the lessons it had learned over the previous decade – in 1986.
