Reports: Siemens Plans To Offer $80/Shr For Dresser-Rand Group

(RTTNews) - Siemens (SIE.DE) said it plans to offer more than $6.1 billion or 3.71 billion pounds, or $80 per share, for U.S. compressor and turbine maker Dresser-Rand Group Inc. (DRC).

It is noted that a bid by Siemens would pit the company with Swiss pump maker Sulzer (SUN.S) which said on Wednesday it was in talks on a potential merger with Dresser-Rand. Siemens's former Chief Executive Peter Loescher, is now chairman of Sulzer.

Siemens's supervisory board may vote on whether to submit a formal bid of more than $85 a share at a Sept. 24 meeting, said one of the people, who asked not to be named as the matter is not public.

Dresser-Rand makes compressors and turbines for the oil and gas industry, for at least three years. Chief Executive Officer Joe Kaeser is seeking more deals in that industry after saying that Siemens hadn't made the most of the boom in shale gas extracted by hydraulic fracturing.