Areva in exclusive talks with Alstom/Schneider

PARIS, FRANCE - The Areva Supervisory Board has narrowed negotiations to Alstom/Schneider for sale of transmission and distribution business.

On June 30, having reviewed the groupÂ’s development plan, the Areva Supervisory Board asked ArevaÂ’s Executive Board to initiate a process for the sale of the Transmission and Distribution business.

At the close of the bidding process, Areva received three binding offers submitted by Alstom/Schneider, General Electric and Toshiba/INCJ, respectively.

All three bids are relatively similar in terms of value, representing more than four times the price paid by Areva for the business five years ago.

Areva's Supervisory Board met on November 30 to examine the bids. After review, the Supervisory Board asked the Executive Board to begin exclusive negotiations with Alstom/Schneider.

The consortium offered 2.29 billion euros in equity value, i.e. 4.09 billion euros in enterprise value. The bid does not include any requirement for a sellerÂ’s warranty but includes a buyerÂ’s commitment to maintain all European sites for a 3-year period.

To ensure that all Areva T&D team members are integrated properly, Alstom/Schneider have also agreed to offer to all European employees a similar position in the same geographic area, at an equivalent qualification level and without loss of compensation or seniority.

Finally, unless the economic environment deteriorates significantly, the buyers made a commitment not to implement any layoff program except for voluntary terminations.