GE CEO Immelt Meets With French Government To Discuss Potential Investments

(RTTNews) - Diversified conglomerate General Electric Co. (GE) said Monday that its chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt has met with the French Government to discuss potential investments by the company in France.

GE said that Immelt met today at the Elysee with French President Francois Hollande and Minister of Economy, Industrial Renewal, and Digital Economy, Arnaud Montebourg. The announcement comes even as Bloomberg reported last week that GE is in talks to buy French industrial company Alstom SA (ALSMY, AOMFF, ALS.L) for more than $13 billion.

Immelt said in a statement, "The dialogue was open, friendly and productive. It was important to hear in person President Hollande's perspective and to discuss our plans, our successful track record of investing in France, and our long-term commitment to the country."

Alstom is a manufacturer of high-speed trains and power plant equipment. An acquisition of Alstom would give GE control of the French company's high-speed TGV trains and rail-signal technology.

GE is said to have the support of French conglomerate and Alstom shareholder Bouygues SA (BOUYY.PK) for an acquisition of Alstom. In late February, Bouygues reported a loss for the fourth quarter, hurt by a hefty write-down on its investment in Alstom.

Alstom has been focusing on selling non-core assets in order to cut down on costs and reduce debt. In early April, Alstom said it agreed to sell its auxiliary components business to European investment firm Triton for an enterprise value of about 730 million euros. The business is part of the steam segment within the company's thermal power business.

On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported that German conglomerate Siemens AG (SI) has offered a swap transaction with Alstom, in a bid to counter an offer by General Electric.

According to the WSJ report, Siemens has proposed a cash deal plus asset swap to acquire Alstom's units handling thermal power, renewable power and electric-grids. Siemens valued the businesses at roughly 10 billion euros to 11 billion euros, or $13.8 billion to $15.2 billion. It has also reportedly proposed to contribute significant parts of its rail systems business, which Alstom could merge with its transportation businesses.

Siemens' intervention could likely find favor with the French government, which is said to have urged the German group to step forward to prevent a jewel of French industrial prowess falling into U.S. hands.

Siemens confirmed on Sunday that it has submitted a letter to the Board of Alstom to signal its willingness to discuss future strategic opportunities. The German company also said it will not make further comments at this time.

On Monday, Siemens also said its delegation will have the opportunity to meet the French president and other high-ranking French political leaders later in the day. The company added that following the meeting, it will convene as soon as possible to decide whether to make an offer for Alstom and what the offer will consist of.

In Monday's regular session, GE is trading at $26.70, up $0.10 or 0.39 percent on a volume of 2.68 million shares.