Alstom open to counter bid from Siemens despite accepting GE bid for energy business; EDF could be involved by French government – reports (translated)
Alstom’s board is open to a counter bid from Siemens despite accepting a USD 12bn (EUR 8.67bn) bid from General Electric (GE) for its energy business, the Financial Times reported. The newspaper cited two people close to the negotiations who said Alstom’s acceptance of the GE bid would not preclude a counter offer. The people added that GE is aware that it still needs to address concerns that the French government has regarding employment at Alstom. The Alstom board accepted GE’s all-cash bid for its energy unit last night, 29 April.
Siemens, a listed German engineering group, has indicated that it will submit a formal bid for GE, the item noted. Siemens said in a letter to Alstom yesterday that any formal bid would depend on the German group being allowed to conduct due diligence on the French company over a period of four weeks. The item went on to cite a person close to the talks who said Siemens’ letter was more specific than a letter sent by Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser to Alstom Chief Executive Patrick Kron on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a report from French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur claimed that listed French state-owned energy group EDF could play a part in the “rescue” of Alstom from foreign hands. The report added that the government could sell part of its 84% stake in EDF, raising about EUR 6bn: half of the money would be used to acquire the 29% shareholding owned by Bouygues in Alstom, while the other half would finance the recapitalisation of Alstom. The report cited a labour union member as saying that the EDF scenario was not mentioned during a meeting yesterday, Tuesday with French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg, information that was also denied by the Finance Ministry.
The report went on to say that the government would need time to work on such a solution, and is pressing Alstom to delay the negotiations with its potential buyers.
Another report from French news magazine Le Point cited a person familiar with the matter as saying that the government is planning to refer the Alstom matter with the French stock market regulator AMF. The source added that the government wants to make sure that the sale process is “non-discriminatory, transparent, and open”.
German daily Der Tagesspiegel said Swiss industrial group ABB could become the third player in the situation, quoting ABB Chief Ulrich Spiesshofer as stating he is observing the situation.
Source Financial Times, Le Nouvel Observateur, Le Point