M&A

13 November, 2009

Areva unions protest sale of T&D unit

PARIS, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Unions for French nuclear reactor builder Areva (CEPFi.PA) sent an open letter to French legislators on Friday, asking them to block the sale of Areva's transmission and distribution (T&D) business.

The unions said that the French government was giving a "present to (Areva's) competitors," by allowing the T&D business to be sold.

Earlier this week Areva said it had received three binding offers for the business, which analysts say is worth between 3.5 billion and 4.5 billion euros ($5.21 billion to $6.69 billion). [ID:nL9491217]

The offers came from Japan's Toshiba Corp (6502.T) in consortium with the investment fund Innovation Network Corp of Japan, General Electric (GE.N) and French partners Alstom SA (ALSO.PA) and Schneider Electric SA (SCHN.PA).

One of the bidders, General Electric, is in the business of building nuclear power reactors. Its new prototype, the advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR), competes with Areva's European Pressurised Reactor (EPR).

Areva is selling the T&D business as part of an effort to raise 11 billion euros to fund investment into the next generation of nuclear power plants.

The unions have also expressed concerns that the sale will cause layoffs among the 30,000 people who work for Areva T&D. Earlier in the month, they also protested against the Alstom-Schneider bid because the companies would like to split transmission from distribution, liking causing redundancies.

The letter, which was signed by the Committee of the European Group for Areva, said that a sale was "pointless and harmful to the economy of France and its citizens."

Areva said it is reviewing the bids but gave no indication when it would choose a winner. A source close to the situation told Reuters that a final decision could be made by November 23. ($1=.6722 Euro)

Source: http://www.reuters.com