Alstom to continue to defend GE deal with EU

[June 12, 2015]  PARIS (Reuters) - French engineering group Alstom <ALSO.PA> said on Friday it will continue to provide evidence on the positive impact for Europe of the planned sale of its power business to General Electric Co.

Alstom was reacting after two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday that General Electric needed to offer bigger concessions to win European Union approval for the deal as regulators plan to warn the U.S. company that it would harm competition. "There have been press comments that a 'statement of objections' would be issued by the European Commission associated with the investigation of the sale of Alstom’s Energy businesses to General Electric," the statement said. "This is a usual step in a phase II merger case and it does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation. It will allow both General Electric and Alstom to address specific matters pointed out by the investigating team," it added. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Andrew Callus) [© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.