Oil producer Total SA, France’s biggest company by sales, will contribute 100 million euros to the private non-profit Fondation du Patrimoine for the project, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said. Martin Bouygues and Olivier Bouygues, the brothers who run construction and telecom company Bouygues SA, committed 10 million euros in personal funds and the company said it also would donate. Technology consulting firm Capgemini SE pledged 1 million euros. In the U.S., private-equity titan Henry Kravis and his wife, Marie-Josee Kravis, will give $10 million, they said.
Construction company Vinci SA, the Duval family that owns property developer Groupe Duval, and banks BNP Paribas SA, Societe Generale SA and Credit Agricole SA also said they would give.
“Vinci suggests all building companies in France should join forces to rebuild Notre Dame in an industry-wide skills sponsorship drive,” the company said in a statement, noting that the 13th-century wooden beams holding up the roof can never be replaced, while the remaining structure “must be safeguarded.”
Authorities on Tuesday were still assessing the damage from the fire and weren’t saying how much it would cost to restore the cathedral, which lost large swaths of its roof.
“Today we must look at the extent of the damage,” Culture Minister Franck Riester said on LCI television, adding that only then can the cost of restoration be determined.
“Clearly money is important, but there will be many donations and money won’t be the thing that’s missing,’’ Antoine Arnault, Bernard Arnault’s son, said in an interview on BFM TV. “What will be needed is something more intangible -- extremely competent people with good ideas.’’
LVMH has “architectural and artistic savoir faire,” as well as expertise in art preservation because of its Louis Vuitton foundation, he said.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.