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"The bid is not good enough, it's not
acceptable," Hollande told RMC radio on Tuesday.
Asked whether it was possible that the state, which currently
holds around 1 percent in Alstom, could itself increase its
stake in the ailing engineering group, he said: "For now I would
prefer to get better offers."
Alstom said last week it was reviewing a binding $16.9 billion
bid from GE for its energy arm, although it has not turned down
a rival offer from Germany's Siemens <SIEGn.DE>.
French Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg also came out against
the GE offer on Monday but opened the door for a deal that would
also combine the two companies' rail businesses.
"In its current form, we unfortunately cannot give backing to
the proposals that you have made based solely on the purchase of
Alstom's energy activities," Montebourg wrote in a letter to GE
Chief Executive Jeff Immelt.
Shares in Alstom were 1.1 percent lower at 29.03 euros by 0725
GMT (3.25 a.m. EDT), among the worst performers on a 0.2 percent
firmer French blue-chip CAC 40 index <.FCHI>.
(Reporting by Mark John and Ingrid Melander; Editing by James
Regan)
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