The Team of Toshiba and INCJ Loses Bid For Areva's Power Grid Equipment Unit

A French group was victorious n its effort to buy the power transmission and distribution equipment unit of major French nuclear firm Areva SA, thereby dashing Toshiba's hopes for making its own acquisition, according to Nikkei. The final round of the tender in early November was a three-party race among: a partnership of Toshiba and public-private investment fund Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ), an alliance of the French firms Alstom SA and Schneider Electric SA, and a group led by General Electric Co. The French alliance, which offered roughly 4.09 billion Euros, has effectively won the bid by securing the priority negotiation rights. The Toshiba team is believed to have offered the highest price, but the French government, a major shareholder of Areva, appears to have backed the local alliance.