Siemens and Mitsubishi to form alliance plan for Alstom assets
France, Levallois-Perret: Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will attempt to beat the GE bid for Alstom with an offer that would focus on alliances with the French engineering group, according to sources.
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France, Levallois-Perret: Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will attempt to beat the GE bid for Alstom with an offer that would focus on alliances with the French engineering group, according to sources.
Siemens and Mitsubishi were discussing a joint offer for Alstom’s energy assets that would be worth around $ 9.8 billion. The plan would not be a direct buyout but would rather set up one or more joint holdings in power, according to two sources familiar with the plan.
The government could favour such partnerships over a straight sale of Alstom’s power arm (70 % of group revenue) for fear the company would be left vulnerable once it was reduced to its smaller transport business.
The news of Siemens-Mitsubishi partnership emerged on Wednesday, and Hitachi, a joint-venture partner with Mitsubishi, said earlier on Thursday it also hoped to take part. According to the newspaper reports the two Japanese companies would set up a joint venture to bid for Alstom’s steam turbine operations, said to be valued at $ 4.90 billion.
“The closer we get to the deadlines, the more we hear of other groups being involved.” said Didier Lesou, an Alstom union representative from CFE-CGC. “If the Japanese are in too, that would imply a breakup of Alstom’s energy business. It’s scary.”
However, sources claim that was not the spirit of a Siemens-Mitsubishi plan, which would help allay antitrust concerns and would strive for an alliance, reports Reuters.
“MHI’s plan with Siemens is to leave as much as possible in the hands of Alstom, to maintain a strong Alstom presence in power and to build a partnership involving one or several joint ventures, notably in turbines.” said the source close to the French government.
Siemens is due to disclose a bid by Monday, whilst GE agreed last month to extend its offer until the 23rd June at the government’s request.
Source: Reuters
Image: dezidor (Creative Commons Licence)
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