PARIS: General Electric says it will continue to base Alstom’s renewables division in France, as the last of the American giant’s takeover deal continues amid anti-trust investigations by the European Comissions, Reuters reports.
According to the website, GE will keep ‘grids, offshore wind, hydro and steam turbines’ in France pas part of the $A17bn takeover of Alstom’s energy business, which has been subject to intense interest in France.
With regard to its commitments in terms of headquarters, General Electric will go above and beyond its commitments,” Alstom chief Patrick Kron told a French parliament hearing, Reuters reports, adding that the company was confident it would get EC competition watchdog approval: “Alstom has sold three gas turbines in Europe in the past five years … I do not think that the GE alliance will upset this European market which is totally dead anyway,” he said.
GE’s new renewables division will be headed by Frenchman Jerome Pecresse, current head of Alstom Renewable Power, the website adds.