The French government said on Sunday it would not allow any hasty decisions over a potential buyout of Alstom by American giant General Electric, claiming the country’s “national interest” is at stake, reports FRANCE 24.
Arnaud Montebourg, the country’s economy minister, urged the struggling French firm to consider a rival offer that emerged Sunday from German company Siemens, a deal he said would create “two European champions” in transport and engineering.
“Given the strategic stakes for French industry and economy, the government won't accept any decision made in haste and without taking account of alternative choices in the national interest,” he said in a statement.
GE boss Jeff Immelt had been due in Paris earlier Sunday to hold talks with Montebourg over a possible deal for Alstom. However, a spokeswoman for the minister subsequently said Immelt's meeting had been postponed "for a few days". His office later said he would take this time to consider the Siemens bid more closely.
France’s outspoken economy minister said he would examine both GE and Siemen’s proposals “with the aim of preserving the interests of France’s industrial base” and added that the state was “ready to take part financially” in a deal.
The future of Alstom has been the subject of intense speculation following a Bloomberg report Thursday which claimed that GE is in talks over a $13 billion deal for the turbine and train maker.
The prospect of one of France’s biggest engineering firms – one that employs 18,000 people in France and is a major government contractor – being sold to a US rival prompted the government to weigh in, with Montebourg telling French daily Le Monde on Friday that the potential deal was of “patriotic concern” to France.
The government wanted to look at alternatives to the GE deal, Montebourg said at the time.
A possible solution emerged on Sunday when Siemens announced it was prepared to discuss a possible tie-up with Alstom, which makes France’s prized TGV high-speed trains.
Siemens said it sent the Alstom board a letter “to signal its willingness to discuss future strategic opportunities” but declined to elaborate.
According to French daily Le Figaro, however, Siemens is offering Alstom half of the German firm’s train-making division plus cash in exchange for the French firm’s turbines division.
The newspaper, which said it has seen the contents of the letter sent to the Alstom board, described the offer as informal but detailed and reported that it included a proposal for Alstom to take on Siemens’ high-speed trains and locomotives arm, but not its metropolitan trains division.
Le Figaro gave no details of the cash part of the deal.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.