Abstract EN:

Because many french companies have been weakened by excessive debt, legislators have adopted laws aimed at encouraging such companies to reinforce their stockholder's equity. These measures have involved, on the one hand, the improvement of the traditional methods for increasing capital and, on the other hand, the diversification of financial products, with or without an effect on the voting control of the company and extended the legal concept of stockholder's equity to include quasi and assimilated stockholder's equity. In order to assure the efficient use of these financial products, a company must rely on the collaboration of its various partners. The public authorities have sought to favor the participation and integration of a company's internal and external actors, i. E. The corporate partners (employee shareholders) and financiers (institutional investors, listing on the exchange known as the "second marche"). But if, in the final analysis, it appears necessary to reinforce stockholder's equity in french companies, experience has revealed the difficulties, sometimes insurmontable, in trying to bring together the offer and demand for risk capital. It is questionable whether risk capital is capable of overcoming the alternative of self-financing and indebtedness and replacing the traditional method of providing funds.