How Hollande's `bus full of generals' helped beat Germans to sub deal

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French lobbying, including by François Hollande and 'a bus full of generals', helped win €34bn Australian deal over low-key German rival bid.

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It was Anzac Day when President François Hollande got a call from Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull to tell him that France’s DCNS Group had beaten a bid from Germany to win a defense contract worth A$50 billion ($39 billion), reports Bloomberg.