(Bloomberg) -- A group of Electricite de France SA employee shareholders said it had appealed the French stock market regulator’s approval of the government’s €‎9.7 billion ($10.2 billion) bid to take the utility back into full state ownership, arguing the ongoing tender offer undervalues the company.

FCPE Actions EDF and FCPE EDF ORS, which together own about 1.6% of the utility, filed the claim at the Paris appeals court on Friday, Benoit Gailhac, President of EDF Actionnariat Salaries, an employee association that helps run the two funds, told Bloomberg Monday. 

In July, the French government announced a plan to buy out minority shareholders of the utility for €‎12 per share and to repurchase the company’s convertible bonds it doesn’t already own. President Emmanuel Macron wants to nationalize the utility to help it invest tens of billions of euros in new atomic plants as France works to reduce its reliance on imported fossil fuels. 

The plan comes during a difficult year for EDF, which produces the vast majority of France’s power, as reliability issues at a dozen reactors and a government cap on electricity prices have put a huge hole in its finances.

The tender offer, which opened on Nov. 24, is due to run until Dec. 22. The government will delist the company to take full ownership if its stake reaches 90% by the end of the process. It had 85.1% as of Dec. 1, according to a regulatory filing.      

The appeal was first reported by Agefi-Dow Jones.  

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.