GE says EU has halted review of Alstom deal

[NEW YORK] European competition officials have suspended their review of General Electric's proposed US$14 billion acquisition of the energy business of French rival Alstom.

The European Commission's suspension of the review procedural and does not signify a major barrier to winning approval, GE spokesman Seth Martin said Monday.

"We have been notified by the commission that they have temporarily stopped the clock on the investigation process," Mr Martin said.

"We continue to have a constructive dialogue with the commission." He added that GE is "willing to explore remedies to get this deal done, provided the deal economics are preserved."

The US industrial giant has yet to receive a statement of objections from the agency and so has not specified any concessions.

The suspension could delay the timeframe for winning approval by several weeks from an original August 6 deadline, according to GE.

EU competition authorities in February launched a probe of the GE deal, citing fears that the transaction would lead to higher prices and harm innovation in the sector.

GE chief executive Jeff Immelt met with EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager earlier this month in Brussels.

AFP