Paris - The French government will establish an investment fund of 20 billion euros (25 billion dollars) to support French companies and protect them from foreign takeovers, President Nicolas Sarkozy announced on Thursday.

Speaking to workers in the central French city of Saint-Julien de Chedon, Sarkozy said the fund is to be managed by the Caisse des Depots, a government financial institution under the control of parliament.

The amount of money committed to the fund was smaller than expected. Originally, the talk was of at least 100 million euros.

The French president made his announcement at a plant of the company Dahers, a supplier to the aircraft manufacturer Airbus. The company is to receive 85 million euros from the fund.

Sarkozy said that no money would be given to companies that were in danger of not being able to survive the economic crisis. (dpa)