PARIS, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Christel Heidemann, Orange director and president of Schneider SCHN.PA in Europe, may be the favorite among the candidates to succeed Stephane Richard at the helm of the French telecoms company, Les Echos reports in its Monday edition. coming.

The Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, would be particularly inclined to defend the candidacy of Christel Heidemann and would have informed the President of the Republic,” the newspaper wrote.

Reuters, citing informed sources, reported last week that Orange’s internal selection committee had selected three candidates to replace the outgoing CEO of the French telecom giant Stephane Richard, who was convicted on appeal in the arbitration case between Bernard Tapie and. Credit Lyonnais. nL8N2TM4R5

These three nominees are Ramon Fernandez, Orange’s current CFO, Kristel Heydemann, and Frank Bolbin, former Orange CEO currently at Verizon VZ.N in the United States.

The final word on the appointment of a successor to Stephen Richard after January 31 rests with the state, which retains control of key appointments to Orange governance thanks to its 23% controlling stake.

(by Claude Chengo, with contributions by Mathieu Rosemin and Tangy Salone)