This paper studies the price reaction of French common stocks to the recent nationalization program and estimates the value that nationalized firms would have had if the nationalization program had not occurred. It finds that expropriated holders of the nationalized portfolio received a government-legislated takeover premium of about 20 percent. Premiums received for individual firms ranged from —3 to 44 percent. Industrial firm shareholders benefited most from the program. The conditions surrounding the premium dispersion raise questions about equal treatment among expropriated shareholders.