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Private Equity firms move in on France-based Alstrom

Four major private equity players have expressed an interest in acquiring the key transmission and distribution unit of debt-laden French engineer Alstrom. The leveraged-buy-out operations will also have to take on trade buyer RPT-General Electric for Alstom's most profitable operation.

CVC Capital Partners, Doughty-Hanson, Clayton Dubilier and Rice, and Permira have all made preliminary offers for the unit, which has been valued at around E2bn, according to Le Figaro.

Alstrom, which manufactures France's TGV trains and runs gas turbines producing 20 per cent of the world's electricity, is shedding the T&D unit and other core assets in a bid to resolve a cash crisis.

The bankruptcy of a major shipping customer and weakness in the US power market has left Alstrom in a tenuous financial position and the engineering giant is planning to raise E3bn in asset sales by March 2004. Alstrom is due to announce the sale of its industrial turbines unit later this month.

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