The agreement came after TotalFina sweetened its all-share-bid for Elf by 9.2 per cent, raising the value to $48.7 billion (47 billion euros), offered vague promises to look more closely into a more aggressive industrial plan for the newly merged group's chemical activities, and agreed to equal representation by TotalFina and Elf on the merged group's executive committee and board. Elf chairman Philippe Jaffre, though, said he will step down as soon as the merger is completed, leaving the giant in the hands of TotalFina chairman Thierry Desmarest.

The negotiated outcome cuts short what promised to be an epic European takeover battle and also marks a triumph for Desmarest. Not only is the final agreement tailored along the lines of Desmarest'sstrategic project - Jaffre, in launching a reverse takeover bid for TotalFina, sought a demerger of chemical assets - but the move caps TotalFina's transformation from also-ran to oil major. Through the takeovers of Belgium's Petrofina last year and now Elf, Desmarest creates France's biggest company in terms of stock-market caitalisation, with a value of more than 95 billion euros.