By Tom Fairless
BRUSSELS--Antitrust regulators in Europe said Tuesday they had
restarted their investigation of General Electric Co's (GE) $17
billion acquisition of Alstom SA's (ALO.FR) power business
following a two week pause, after receiving information they had
requested to conclude the case.
"We have now received the information requested from the
parties," the European Commission, the bloc's top antitrust
regulator, said in a statement.
The commission opened an in-depth investigation into the deal in
February, warning it could lead to higher prices for heavy-duty gas
turbines. The merger would reduce the number of suppliers of such
turbines in Europe from three to two, including Germany's Siemens
AG (SI), the commission said.
GE has not yet submitted any remedies aimed at assuaging
regulators' concerns, and its Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt said
in April that he wouldn't do a deal at any price.
However, a senior GE executive said Monday that the firm was
willing to make concessions to win approval for the deal. GE power
and water Chief Executive Steve Bolze said the lengthy regulatory
process was taking its toll on the French unit's business, but he
said any concessions must preserve the deal's value.
The new deadline for a decision by EU regulators is Aug. 21, six
weeks later than the initial deadline of July 8.
Write to Tom Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com
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