General Electric has extended a deadline for its $16.9bn bid for the energy business of Alstom of France, giving it more time for talks with French ministers that it hopes will secure support for the deal.
The US manufacturing and finance group is offering concessions on issues such as access to technology, French ownership of part of the business, and employment, intended to ease concerns about ceding the majority of one of France’s flagship companies to a foreign buyer.
The deadline for Alstom’s committee of independent directors to make a formal decision on the GE offer and enter exclusive negotiations has been extended by three weeks to June 23 at the government’s request, GE said, “to facilitate ongoing discussions”.