Nuclear and electric power company Areva SA signed an agreement Wednesday with Alstom SA and Schneider Electric SA setting out financial terms for the sale of its power transmission and distribution business, the company said.
The bid from Alstom and Schneider, also French companies, valued the power grid unit at about $5.78 billion (euro4.09 billion). A statement from Areva confirmed the price but provided no details on financial terms and conditions.
Separate bids from General Electric Co. and Japan’s Toshiba Corp. were rejected in November.
Areva had acquired the grid unit five years earlier.
The deal commits the buyers to maintain all European sites for three years and guarantees similar positions in the same geographical area to European employees.
The statement says that except for voluntary terminations there will be no layoffs “unless the economic situation deteriorates significantly.”
Antitrust authorities must now approve the deal.
Schneider makes equipment for electricity infrastructure and transmission. Alstom makes power-generation equipment and train systems. (AP)