Air France-KLM, Unibail to enter French stocks CAC 40 index

PARIS - Air France-KLM, the biggest European airline, and French property firm Unibail are to replace insurer AGF and the Thomson group on the Paris stock exchange's main CAC 40 index on June 18, stock exchange operator NYSE Euronext said on Tuesday.
Air France-KLM's stock exchange capitalisation, one of the main criteria for entering the CAC 40, has passed 10.4 billion euros (13.9 billion dollars), an increase of 122 percent over the past year.
The stock exchange capitalisation of Unibail is more than nine billion euros, an increase of 56 percent over the past year, thanks to the success of real estate companies on the Paris stock exchange.
Membership of the CAC 40 index of leading French shares generally makes the shares available to a wider range of investors, especially abroad thanks to the added publicity.

05/29/2007 19:52 GMT