Alstom rebuffed the French government on Wednesday, saying it was not interested in taking over General Electric’s “niche” freight train business, as the engineering group reported that net income had fallen by more than a quarter over the year, reports The Financial Times.
Patrick Kron, chief executive, responded to comments from the government earlier in the week saying that GE’s offer for Alstom’s energy business – already agreed by the Alstom board – was not acceptable as it stood.
The government suggested that GE should revise its $13.5bn deal to take over Alstom’s energy division, which represents around 70 per cent of sales, and offer to hand over its freight train business to Alstom’s remaining transport division.
But on Wednesday, Mr Kron said that the freight business was US-focused and would offer few synergies with Alstom’s existing operations. He added that he was more interested in the signalling activities already put on the table by GE.
The comments show Mr Kron is attempting to stick to the terms of the agreement that he worked out with GE over months of negotiations and despite fierce political pressure to reshape the deal.
Read more of this report from The Financial Times.
Read Mediapart's coverage of the deal here.