General Electric of the US and Siemens of Germany ­yesterday launched charm offensives to win France’s socialist government over to their competing bids for engineering group and “industrial jewel” Alstom, each arguing that its offer best served the national interest.
正在竞购阿尔斯通(Alstom)的美国的通用电气(GE)以及德国的西门子(Siemens)昨日展开魅力攻势，各自试图赢得法国社会党政府的支持。通用电气和西门子都指出，自己的收购提议最符合法国的国家利益。工程集团阿尔斯通被誉为法国的“工业明珠”。
Jeff Immelt, chief executive of GE, and Joe Kaeser, his Siemens counterpart, met president François Hollande at the Elysée Palace after Paris threatened to block any deal it considered unsuitable.
通用电气首席执行官杰夫•伊梅尔特(Jeff Immelt)和西门子首席执行官乔•克泽尔(Joe Kaeser)在爱丽舍宫(Elysée Palace)与法国总统弗朗索瓦•奥朗德(François Hollande)举行了会面。此前法国政府威胁称，将阻挠任何在其看来“不合适”的交易。
The GE approach sparked national debate last week over France’s declining industrial power and spurred politicians to seek alternatives, though the state no longer has a stake in Alstom.
通用电气的收购提议上周在法国全国上下引发了有关法国工业实力下降的争论，并促使法国政界寻求其他方案，尽管法国政府目前已不再持有阿尔斯通的股权。
Industry minister Arnaud Montebourg appeared to favour Siemens yesterday evening. He said its proposal to swap rail for power assets would create “two European and global champions”. This deal would be easier to sell politically than the proposed US offer and Berlin weighed in to it. But the GE deal is widely seen to make more industrial sense and could result in fewer job losses.
法国工业部长阿诺•蒙特布尔格(Arnaud Montebourg)昨日晚间表现得更倾向于西门子。他表示，西门子的提议——即以自身铁路业务置换阿尔斯通电力资产——将缔造出“两家欧洲以及全球范围内的冠军企业”。这项交易在政治上比美国通用电气的收购更容易得到支持，且德国政府也表示了支持。但通用电气的收购要约被普遍认为更具产业合理性，并能减少工作岗位损失。
The Alstom board favours GE, said people close to the talks, but is considering its options. There was speculation that Paris could still bring in a French bidder. Siemens’ board is set to meet and a bid could come as early as today.
据了解谈判情况的人士称，阿尔斯通董事会偏向于通用电气，但也在考虑其他选择。有传言称，法国政府可能还会引入一个法国竞购方。西门子董事会将举行会议，收购要约最早将于今天发出。