The closing of the transaction remains subject to the approvals of competition authorities in some countries and of the French Commission des Participations et des Transferts (CPT)
– By Stephen Heiser –
Schneider Electric and Alstom take note of the approval by the European Commission on their joint acquisition of Areva’s Transmission & Distribution business.
The closing of the transaction remains subject to the approvals of competition authorities in some countries and of the French Commission des Participations et des Transferts (CPT).
In January, the AREVA group signed an agreement setting out the legal and financial terms and conditions for the disposal of its Transmission and Distribution business.
The decision to sell AREVA’s Transmission and Distribution business was taken by the Supervisory Board on June 30, 2009 after a review of the group’s development plan.
At the close of the bidding process, the AREVA Supervisory Board, convened on November 30, 2009, asked the Executive Board to begin exclusive negotiations with Alstom/Schneider Electric to draw up the terms of an agreement providing for:
• a sale price of 4.09 billion euros in enterprise value,
• a commitment to maintaining all European sites for a 3-year period,
• guarantees for the workforce: all European employees are to be offered a similar position in the same geographical area at an equivalent qualification level and without loss of compensation or seniority; unless the economic situation deteriorates significantly, there will be no layoff program except for voluntary terminations.
Closing will occur once the antitrust authorities have given their approval and after a decree has been published following the recommendation of the French “Commission des Participations et des Transferts”.