France boosts say on GE-Alstom deal with takeover law

PARIS: The French government has issued a decree allowing it to block foreign takeovers of French firms in “strategic” sectors, throwing up a potential roadblock to General Electric’s (GE) US$16.9bil bid for Alstom’s energy assets.

The decree, extending an existing 2005 law relating to the defence and other industries, was published in the official state gazette yesterday and gives the state much-increased powers to block foreign takeovers in the energy, water, transport, telecoms and health sectors.