AI
France Asserts It Has Authority to Block Mergers
The French government has formally given itself the power to block foreign takeovers on strategic grounds as it seeks to sway the outcome of a battle between General Electric and Siemens for Alstom, one of France’s industrial crown jewels.
The new authority, promulgated late Wednesday as an update to a 2005 law, in effect requires that a foreign investor planning a significant push into any of six areas deemed to be of strategic concern — energy, transportation, water, health, electronic communications or defense — first obtain the economy minister’s approval.
The new authority, promulgated late Wednesday as an update to a 2005 law, in effect requires that a foreign investor planning a significant push into any of six areas deemed to be of strategic concern — energy, transportation, water, health, electronic communications or defense — first obtain the economy minister’s approval.
The law will allow the government “to ensure that its legitimate objectives are fully taken into account by foreign investors,” Arnaud Montebourg, the economy minister. Mr. Montebourg has said that he does not have a preference for G.E. or Siemens but that any deal for Alstom must safeguard jobs and technology, keep some decision-making in France as a matter of “economic sovereignty” and maintain control over Alstom’s nuclear power operations. He noted Thursday that he had written a letter last week to Jeffrey R. Immelt, G.E.’s chairman and chief executive, to say, “We’re open to an alliance, not a breakup of Alstom or a loss of a control.”
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/france-asserts-it-has-authority-to-block-mergers/
The French government has formally given itself the power to block foreign takeovers on strategic grounds as it seeks to sway the outcome of a battle between General Electric and Siemens for Alstom, one of France’s industrial crown jewels.
The new authority, promulgated late Wednesday as an update to a 2005 law, in effect requires that a foreign investor planning a significant push into any of six areas deemed to be of strategic concern — energy, transportation, water, health, electronic communications or defense — first obtain the economy minister’s approval.
The new authority, promulgated late Wednesday as an update to a 2005 law, in effect requires that a foreign investor planning a significant push into any of six areas deemed to be of strategic concern — energy, transportation, water, health, electronic communications or defense — first obtain the economy minister’s approval.
The law will allow the government “to ensure that its legitimate objectives are fully taken into account by foreign investors,” Arnaud Montebourg, the economy minister. Mr. Montebourg has said that he does not have a preference for G.E. or Siemens but that any deal for Alstom must safeguard jobs and technology, keep some decision-making in France as a matter of “economic sovereignty” and maintain control over Alstom’s nuclear power operations. He noted Thursday that he had written a letter last week to Jeffrey R. Immelt, G.E.’s chairman and chief executive, to say, “We’re open to an alliance, not a breakup of Alstom or a loss of a control.”
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/france-asserts-it-has-authority-to-block-mergers/
My post is for my entertainment, do your own DD before pushing your
buy/sell buttons
