Shares in French giant Alstom leap on rumoured GE bid

Shares in French engineering group Alstom, which builds power-generating equipment and high-speed trains, shot up nearly 14.0 percent in early trading on Thursday on rumours that US General Electric may make a takeover bid.

Alstom, issued a statement to say that it had no knowledge of any such offer from General Electric (GE).

Alstom shares, which surged initially by about 17.0 percent, shortly after were showing a gain of 13.87 percent to 27.72 euros on the Paris stock which was showing an overall advance of 0.54 percent.

The group, a top name in French industry, said that it was constantly reviewing its strategic option in different sectors of its activities and would provide information on this when it published annual results on May 7.

The financial news agency Bloomberg had reported on Wednesday that GE was in advanced talks to buy Alstom for more than $13.0 billion (9.4 billion), and a deal could be announced next week.

The report said that such a deal was believed to have the backing of French construction, media and telecom group Bouygues which became a main shareholder in Alstom when it bought the stake held by the French state in 2006.

A spokesman for GE contacted by AFP declined to comment. Early on Thursday, Bouygues also declined to comment to AFP.