Siemens, Mitsubishi Heavy Sweeten Alstom Offer

Siemens and MHI simplified the structure of their offer and offered to inject an additional cash contribution of €1.2 billion ($1.6 billion), raising the total valuation of Alstom's energy business by €400 million to €14.6 billion.

Siemens-MHI and GE are engaged in a tug of war for Alstom's energy assets that has drawn in the French government. Officials in Paris feared job cuts in a troubled economy and the loss of a national icon to a powerful U.S. rival and so asked Siemens to present a counter offer.

The move comes after GE on Thursday revised its earlier offer for Alstom's assets to give France more control and fend off the bid by Siemens and Mitsubishi. The new GE offer is similar to Siemens and MHI's previous offer, which would create three new joint ventures for the companies' grid businesses, Alstom's offshore-wind and hydropower units, and the politically sensitive nuclear-turbines business that has been a concern to French officials.

Additionally, GE offered to sell its rail-signaling business to Alstom, lowering the $17 billion total price the U.S. industrial giant had been offering to pay for Alstom's businesses.

Alstom said Friday it wouldn't comment on either offer until a board's meeting due by June 23 to discuss and "resolve" which offer to choose.

Siemens and Mitsubishi presented their revised offer within hours of GE's updated proposal, even though the German-Japanese team late Thursday dismissed GE's new offer as inferior.

MHI now intends to buy a 40% stake in Alstom's combined steam, grid and hydro business, bringing the businesses under one company as opposed to three joint ventures it previously planned in its June 16 proposal. This raises the cash contribution from MHI by €800 million to €3.9 billion, leaving the valuation of the businesses unchanged.

Siemens raised its cash offer by €400 million, increasing the total valuation of the proposal to €4.3 billion. The German company also offered to enter immediately into a transportation and logistics joint venture with Alstom, including Siemens's rail-signaling division.

As part of the plan presented Monday, Siemens had proposed to pay €3.9 billion in cash for Alstom's gas-turbines business, while MHI would inject €3.1 billion in exchange for minority stakes in Alstom's steam and nuclear turbines, grid, and hydro turbines businesses.

"MHI and Siemens continue to firmly believe that their proposal is the best one for Alstom, its employees, its clients, its shareholders and French national interests. Such proposal is superior industrially, financially and socially," the companies said in a joint statement.