Shares of Alstom, the French industrial conglomerate, were suspended Friday on the Paris exchange at the request of the market regulator amid reports that the company is negotiating a multibillion-dollar deal to sell its energy business to General Electric.
The talks have not been confirmed by either company, but France’s economy minister, Arnaud Montebourg, raised the issue publicly for the first time in a newspaper interview published online Friday, warning that the government would closely examine the effect of any deal on jobs and the country’s industrial base.
“Alstom is the symbol of our industrial power and French ingenuity,†Mr. Montebourg told Le Monde, adding that “the government expresses its concern and patriotic vigilance.â€
The state, he added, is “working on other solutions and outcomes than those that Alstom came up with on its own without informing the government.â€
Mr. Montebourg said he had already spoken with Alstom’s chief executive, Patrick Kron, about the talks, and that he and the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, would meet soon with G.E.’s president to explain its concerns.
There were numerous reports that Alstom’s board was meeting Friday afternoon to consider its options. Alstom declined to comment. G.E. did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shares of Alstom, which is based in Levallois-Perret, near Paris, soared 11 percent on Thursday, giving it a market value of about 8.3 billion euros, or $11.5 billion, after Bloomberg News reported that the company was in talks with G.E.
The market regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers, is “awaiting a statement from Alstom,†Stéfanie Duschenes, a spokeswoman for the regulator, said in explaining the trading halt on Friday. “I can’t tell you any more than that.â€
G.E. shares were little changed in New York on Thursday. The company, based in Fairfield, Conn., has a market value of about $265 billion.
If G.E. is seeking a deal with one of France’s biggest industrial companies, it would be stepping straight into the heart of two of France’s biggest national preoccupations, the loss of industrial competitiveness and a poor labor market.
Alstom’s energy businesses makes a range of energy infrastructure products, including gas, nuclear and coal-fired power plants, wind turbines and the electrical grid used to deliver electricity from power station to users. If sold, that would leave Alstom with its competitive transport business, which makes trams, subway cars and high-speed trains, as well as rail infrastructure.
In any case, Alstom is in need of some kind of help. Standard & Poor’s on Thursday cut its credit rating by one notch to BBB-, and said the company faced a “significant†financial risk amid weak demand that will weigh on its profit over the next two to three years.
