France beefed up tools that allow it to block foreign investment in areas that are key to the country after General Electric Co. offered $17 billion for Alstom SA’s energy units and Germany’s Siemens AG considers a rival bid.
Foreign investment will need government approval in areas such as the supply of energy, equipment, plants, transportation and services that are critical for national security and public health, a decree published yesterday said. Water and electronic communications are also subject to the rules that already applied to matters of defense in a 2005 decree.
“If needed, the government will be able to ask specific commitments or set conditions for investments to warrant the interests of the country,” Economy and Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg said in a statement today.
Montebourg has been pushing Siemens to make a rival bid for Alstom’s energy assets and to offer its rail unit to the French company to thwart GE’s offer. GE and Siemens are circling Alstom to add turbines and other equipment for power plants and transmission networks amid rising demand in the oil and gas industries.
Siemens and GE face demands from the French government to guarantee jobs at Alstom, reducing the potential savings from a deal.
Alstom has conceded it lacks the critical mass to compete with GE, Siemens and emerging market suppliers. It plans to use the proceeds to bolster its train and signaling division, pay down debt and reward shareholders.