GE CEO Immelt To Meet French President Hollande Again On Alstom Bid

(RTTNews) - French President Francois Hollande will meet Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of diversified conglomerate General Electric Co. (GE) on Wednesday, May 28, in Paris to discuss the future of French industrial company Alstom SA (ALSMY, AOMFF, ALS.L). GE has made a $16.9 billion bid to acquire the energy assets of Alstom.

Alstom is the manufacturer of high-speed TGV trains and power plant equipment. The company has been focusing on selling non-core assets in order to cut down on costs and reduce debt.

This will be Immelt's second meeting with the Hollande. GE said in late April that Immelt met with the French government to discuss potential investments by the company in France.

GE said in April that it submitted a binding offer to acquire the Thermal, Renewables and Grid businesses of Alstom for a total of $16.9 billion or 12.35 billion euros, consisting of $13.5 billion enterprise value and $3.4 billion of net cash.

The scope of the transaction includes Alstom's Thermal Power, Renewable Power and Grid Sectors, as well as corporate and shared services. Alstom has said it is considering the proposed acquisition. French conglomerate Bouygues S.A. (BOUYY.PK), a 29 percent non-controlling shareholder of Alstom, supports the transaction.

GE said last Thursday that at the request of the French government, it has agreed to extended the deadline by three weeks for its $16.9 billion bid to acquire the energy assets of Alstom. The deadline for Alstom's board to consider GE's takeover proposal has been extended until June 23 from June 2. GE said it took the decision to facilitate ongoing discussions with the French government.

Alstom's board has also reviewed a declaration of interest from Siemens AG (SI), and said the German conglomerate would have a fair access to information needed to make a binding offer. Siemens is supported by French officials who are looking for a European buyer for Alstom.

Both GE and Siemens might be interested in acquiring parts of Alstom Group. GE and Siemens are primarily interested in the energy technology division of Alstom. Siemens has also proposed to form a joint venture in the rail business, that will be controlled by the French side.

Hollande has termed GE's $16.9 billion for Alstom as "insufficient". In mid-May, the French government adopted a decree that strengthens its rights to intervene and also veto takeovers of French companies that are involved in strategic sectors.

GE closed Friday's trading at $26.51 on a volume of 14.81 million shares. ALSMY closed trading at $3.87, down $0.05 or 1.28 percent on a volume of 30,430 shares.