Arnaud Montebourg News

France chose General Electric to form an alliance with Alstom on Friday - rejecting an offer from Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries - but said the deal still needed some work and added it would buy a 20 percent stake in the hotly-contested company. Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg said he had used a newly- created state decree to reject both of the existing offers as not being in France's strategic interest, and had formulated fresh demands to GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt. The decision ended weeks of suspense surrounding one of Europe's fiercest industrial battles in years, but left open major questions about the final shape of an alliance which GE hopes will give it access to new power markets.

France expects General Electric to boost its bid for Alstom's power unit in response to a potential joint offer from Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Finance Minister Michel Sapin said on Sunday. Siemens and Mitsubishi are putting the finishing touches on an offer for Alstom's turbine businesses, including a cash element of roughly 9 billion euros ($12.3 billion), according to sources close to the bidders. That compares with the U.S. conglomerate's existing offer of 12.4 billion euros ($16.9 billion) for all of Alstom's energy assets. "Mitsubishi forming an alliance with Siemens improves Siemens' offer," Sapin said in an interview broadcast simultaneously on Europe 1 radio and iTele.

Germany's Siemens wrote to Alstom on Tuesday asking for more information ahead of a likely offer for the French company's power business, French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg said. Alstom is already in talks with U.S. conglomerate General Electric over a 12.35 billion euro ($16.9 billion) bid for its power arm, which it is due to review by June 2. Under pressure from the French government, however, it has opened its books to Siemens as well. Sources have told Reuters that Siemens is working on a formal offer to swap part of its rail business plus cash in exchange for Alstom's power business, which could come as early as this week.

The board of Alstom accepted General Electric's 10 billion euro ($13.82 billion) bid for its energy unit on Tuesday, several sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. Sources said GE is not in exclusive talks with Alstom. The French transport-to-turbines group is also set to receive an offer from its much larger German competitor Siemens AG , which said it had sent a letter to Alstom after its managing and supervisory boards had decided to make an offer. Alstom is expected to make a statement about the two offers early on Wednesday, before its shares, suspended since late last week, resume trading. The rival bids have triggered a fierce national debate about the fate of power turbine and train manufacturing in France - both integral to the country's engineering pedigree.

Siemens and the French government intervened in General Electric's plan to buy the power arm of Alstom on Sunday with an alternative European "champions" tie-up proposal and a pledge to act inFrance's national interest. Though French trains-to-turbines maker Alstom is privately owned, firebrand Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg issued a stark reminder of the influence the government holds over a company that relies heavily on orders from state rail operator SNCF and partly state-owned utility EDF. "GE and Alstom have their calendar, which is that of shareholders, but the French government has its own, which is that of economic sovereignty," Montebourg said in a statement, providing the first official confirmation of GE's offer.

Alstom's arch rival Siemens wants talks with the struggling French engineering group, the German company said on Sunday, the day General Electric boss Jeff Immelt is due in Paris to thrash out a deal to buy Alstom's global power arm. Siemens said in a statement that it had written a letter to "signal its willingness to discuss future strategic opportunities" with the French group. France's government has said it wants to find alternatives to the GE offer, which sources say puts a value of $13 billion on the turbines and power grid equipment business and could be announced in days. Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg said last week that he plans a meeting with Immelt.

France's Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg confirmed for the first time on Sunday that both General Electric and Siemens were interested in engineering group Alstom and said he would not allow any hasty decisions. In a statement, he said he first learned of GE's interest on Thursday and then of Siemens' proposal earlier on Sunday. He said the government was ready to look at both proposals but "will not accept that a decision is taken, whatever it might be, in haste" and without knowledge of what was in the national interest and what alternatives there might be. Earlier, a spokeswoman said Montebourg was no longer expecting to meet GE chief executive Jeff Immelt on Sunday as government sources reported on Saturday. She said the meeting had been postponed "for a few days".

U.S. industrial conglomerate General Electric Co is in advanced talks to buy the global power division of struggling French engineering group Alstom SA for about $13 billion, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. Sources said a deal was backed by Alstom's main shareholder, French conglomerate Bouygues with 29 percent, and could be announced in the coming days after an Alstom board meeting on Friday afternoon. The board was due to meet again on Sunday to discuss the transaction, French daily Le Figaro said. "Talks are going ahead swiftly, the deal's structure is defined and everything is almost ready," one of the sources said. Alstom Chief Executive Patrick Kron confirmed to union representatives there were talks about an "industrial deal," but did not name GE.