UPDATE 3-France buys shipyard stake to protect jobs

(Adds union reaction)

By Sophie Louet and Tim Hepher

PARIS, June 12 (Reuters) - France stepped in on Thursday to prevent a loss of jobs to Asia with a plan to buy up to a third of a French shipbuilding group, saying its national interests were at stake.

President Nicolas Sarkozy's government said it had acted to protect the loss of crucial marine skills as the two Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyards -- now called Aker Yards France -- fall under South Korean control.

The French yards are 75 percent owned by a subsidiary of the Norwegian company Aker Yards AKY.OL. Last year, South Korea's STX Shipbuilding (067250.KS) bought a 39 percent stake in Aker in a stock market raid, and has said it plans to boost its holding further.

The French government said had agreed to buy back 9 percent of Aker Yards France from STX. The remaining 25 percent of Aker Yards France belongs to French engineering firm Alstom (ALSO.PA), but the French government has a right of first refusal over that stake when Aker is due to buy it in 2010, so from then, it would have a 34 percent blocking minority over key decisions.

The government said it had struck the deal directly with STX. In Oslo, Aker Yards said it was unaware of the plan.

"We are surprised to learn through the media that the French government has announced that they intend to buy a total of 34 percent of the shares in Aker Yards France based on a dialogue with STX," Chairman Svein Sivertsen said in a statement.

"We see it as unlikely that Aker Yards will sell any part of our business if the terms are not attractive for both all of our owners and for the further development of the company," he said.

A French government official, asking not to be named, said the value of the 9 percent stake would be set by experts but predicted it would be no more than some "tens of millions" of euros.

"We see it in a positive light. With its minority stake, the state will be able to oppose certain investment or strategic choices," union representative Marc Menager said in Nantes.

ECONOMIC PATRIOTISM REVISITED

Last year's move on Aker shares by STX raised concerns in France about the future of 3,000 shipbuilding jobs at a time of economic uncertainty.

Unions warned of the collapse of France's last civil shipyard, whose vessels include the 1930s floating palace Normandie, once the world's largest and fastest cruiseliner. The yard also has a hand in military shipbuilding.

France has not yet decided whether to build a second aircraft carrier and may need the yard's deep docks to do so.