Siemens chief executive Joe Kaeser has said the company won’t be bullied into making a deal with Alstom.
Speaking at a press conference to outline a planned restructuring of the company, Kaeser said he was entirely serious about making an offer to Alstom but that any acquisition would not go ahead just to please the French and German governments.
“If I was not serious, I would not waste my time or the time of my team to take the effort and look at it. You can be entirely sure whatever we do on that topic we give it a serious thought.”
He added: “We are not giving control away. We want to be the ones to decide and not be pushed by someone else.
“If there was an option to build stronger companies together then this could be hypothetically, could be a way to bundle energy and power and bundle the transportation business as we go along.”
GE has offered Alstom €12.4 billion for its energy business – an offer that has been criticised by the French government.
The German government has also indicated that it is keen to improve industrial relationships between the two countries.
Siemens is yet to make a formal offer, but the company has been given access to Alstom’s data rooms.
The comments were made at a press conference announcing Siemens’ second-quarter results and financial outlook. Revenue was down 2 per cent and orders fell by 13 per cent on the previous year. Despite this, overall profit rose to just under €1.6 billion
In order to focus on its electrification, automation and digitalisation sectors, Siemens also plans on reducing its current number of divisions from 16 to nine.
