Alstom Board Clears GE's Sweetened Offer

阿爾斯通接受通用電氣修改收購(gòu)要約

June 21, 2014 —— The board of French engineering group Alstom SA said Saturday it has officially accepted General Electric Co.’s sweetened offer for its power-equipment unit，ending a two-month scramble for the maker of turbines for power plants.

6月21日消息——法國(guó)工程集團(tuán)阿爾斯通董事會(huì)在周六表示，已正式接受通用電氣對(duì)其電力設(shè)備的修改版收購(gòu)要約。至此，長(zhǎng)達(dá)兩個(gè)月的阿爾斯通競(jìng)購(gòu)戰(zhàn)宣告結(jié)束。

The board accepted the revised offer made by GE on Friday，when the U.S. group changed its $17 billion initial offer for the whole of Alstom’s power business to make it more palatable to the French government，which was reluctant to let the industrial jewel fall into U.S. hands.

阿爾斯通董事會(huì)接受了美國(guó)通用電氣周五提出的收購(gòu)要約，后者修改了以170億美元收購(gòu)阿爾斯通全部能源業(yè)務(wù)的初始提議，使得修改后的要約對(duì)不愿讓這一行業(yè)翹楚落入美國(guó)手中的法國(guó)政府而言更具吸引力。

Under the revised GE bid，Alstom would sell its gas turbine business，the largest part of the power-equipment unit，to the U.S. company and house the French part of its steam and nuclear turbines，renewable-energy activities and grid equipment in 50/50 joint ventures with GE.

根據(jù)通用電氣修改后的要約，阿爾斯通將向通用電氣出售其燃?xì)鉁u輪發(fā)電機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)，這是其電力設(shè)備部門中最大一部分業(yè)務(wù)。此外，阿爾斯通還將與通用電氣各出資50%成立數(shù)家合資公司，經(jīng)營(yíng)蒸汽及原子能渦輪發(fā)電機(jī)、可再生能源和電網(wǎng)設(shè)備這三項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)。

The revised bid puts a value of $3.5bn on the stakes it will own in the three businesses that will be joint ventures with GE，meaning that the net cash cost of the deal to the US group will be $10bn. It is the US company’s biggest ever industrial acquisition.

根據(jù)修改后要約的估價(jià)，阿爾斯通在主營(yíng)這三項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)的合資公司中擁有的股份為35億美元，這意味著通用電氣對(duì)該項(xiàng)收購(gòu)交易的凈現(xiàn)金成本將為100億美元。這是通用電氣有史以來最大的行業(yè)收購(gòu)案。

GE has also agreed to sell its rail signalling business to Alstom for $825m，further offsetting the cost of the acquisition.

通用電氣也同意將鐵路信號(hào)傳輸業(yè)務(wù)以8.25億美元的價(jià)格出售給阿爾斯通，這也進(jìn)一步抵消了收購(gòu)交易的成本。

On Friday the government backed the proposed deal with GE，rejecting a rival Siemens-Mitsubishi offer it had previously encouraged as ministers sought guarantees on domestic jobs and activities deemed strategic.

法國(guó)政府在周五表示支持通用電氣的收購(gòu)方案，并拒絕了西門子和三菱重工的競(jìng)購(gòu)要約。此前，為了保障國(guó)內(nèi)就業(yè)，并出于戰(zhàn)略考慮，法國(guó)政府曾對(duì)西門子和三菱重工的競(jìng)購(gòu)表示鼓勵(lì)。

The two groups made a 8.2bn euros cash offer，lifting the total value of their offer to 14.6bn euros-more than the value of the GE bid. It included Siemens also putting railway assets into Alstom’s transport unit.

在這兩家公司的競(jìng)購(gòu)方案中，現(xiàn)金報(bào)價(jià)為82億歐元，總報(bào)價(jià)提高至146億歐元，這一價(jià)格高于通用電氣的收購(gòu)報(bào)價(jià)。此要約還包括西門子計(jì)劃向阿爾斯通的運(yùn)輸部門出售其鐵路資產(chǎn)業(yè)務(wù)。

French Economy and Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said the Siemens-MHI bid was“very serious，very credible”but faced potential competition problems from the European Commission，which he blamed as the“principal obstacle”to creating European“industrial champions”as he has advocated.

法國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)和工業(yè)部長(zhǎng)Arnaud Montebourg表示，西門子和三菱重工的收購(gòu)方案“非常認(rèn)真且可信”，但可能面臨來自歐盟委員會(huì)有關(guān)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)方面的質(zhì)疑。他指責(zé)，這也是其此前倡導(dǎo)的打造歐洲“行業(yè)領(lǐng)軍企業(yè)”的主要障礙。

Siemens on Friday conceded in its battle to take over part of France's Alstom."We respect and understand the political interest of the government in the field of energy," Siemens said in a statement, adding that its offer for Alstom's energy assets was "verifiably better" than the rival bid.

西門子周五宣布退出爭(zhēng)奪阿爾斯通能源業(yè)務(wù)的收購(gòu)戰(zhàn)。“我們尊重并且理解法國(guó)政府在能源技術(shù)領(lǐng)域的政治利益。”西門子在聲明中表示，其同時(shí)也指出，西門子對(duì)阿爾斯通能源資產(chǎn)的收購(gòu)要約可證明比對(duì)手更為優(yōu)厚。

But the official green light remains subject to strict conditions agreed with GE - as well as the government’s purchase of the Alstom stake from Bouygues.

不過，對(duì)此項(xiàng)交易的正式放行，還取決于阿爾斯通與通用電氣達(dá)成的嚴(yán)格條件是否得以履行，以及法國(guó)政府能否順利向布依格集團(tuán)收購(gòu)阿爾斯通股份。

The French government sprang a surprise on Friday by saying it would take a 20 per cent stake in Alstom，becoming the company’s biggest shareholder and making the French state GE’s main partner in three joint ventures that are part of the deal. The French state will buy its 20 per cent stake in Alstom by acquiring most of the existing shareholding of Bouygues，the French conglomerate that is currently Alstom’s biggest shareholder.

法國(guó)政府在周五意外宣布，將收購(gòu)阿爾斯通20%的股份，從而成為阿爾斯通的最大股東，并成為通用電氣在將要成立的三家合資公司中的主要合作伙伴。法國(guó)政府將向阿爾斯通目前的最大股東、法國(guó)布依格集團(tuán)收購(gòu)阿爾斯通20%的股份，這也是其目前持有的阿爾斯通股份中的絕大部分。

The deal still needs regulators’and Alstom staff representatives’approval.If approved，the deal is expected to be completed in 2015.

這項(xiàng)交易仍需得到法國(guó)監(jiān)管部門的批準(zhǔn)和阿爾斯通職工代表的同意。如獲通過，預(yù)計(jì)這項(xiàng)交易將于2015年完成。