France says will take stake in banks if needed

PARIS, Oct 7 (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy told his cabinet on Tuesday France was prepared to help French banks by acquiring a stake in their capital if necessary, government spokesman Luc Chatel told reporters.

Chatel said Sarkozy told a weekly cabinet meeting he would not let French banks down and was prepared to help those that ran into difficulty "through a participation in the capital" of those banks. (Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; writing by Francois Murphy)