Alstom says EU clearance of Siemens tie-up not certain

French engineering giant Alstom said Thursday there was no certainty that concessions made to competition regulators to approve its rail business tie-up with German peer Siemens will be enough.

The two companies have offered a series of asset sales to get the deal past the European Commission which fears the new company would dominate the high-speed train and rail signalling markets.

Alstom said the remedies “take into account the Commission’s concerns while maintaining the economic and industrial fundamentals of the deal.”

“The parties believe that this remedies proposal is appropriate and adequate,” the company said in a statement.

“Nonetheless, there is no certainty that this proposal will be enough to meet the concerns of the European Commission,” it added.

On Wednesday, French government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said that if the Commission rejected the tie-up, it would be “an economic error and a political mistake (as well as)… sending a bad signal to the people of Europe.”

Earlier this week press reports said German regulators believed what Siemens and Alstom had offered so far was “neither suitable nor sufficient” to meet EU competition concerns.

The firms said in December they had offered concessions to the Commission they believed would soothe competition fears, including selling off or licensing some high-speed trains and signalling technology.

However, additional offers from the companies last week had not improved the German watchdog’s view of the deal, business daily Handelsblatt reported.

If approved, the merger would create a rail behemoth with operations in 60 countries and annual turnover of 15.6 billion euros ($17.9 billion).

The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is expected to announce its verdict by late February.

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