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Alstom wants share sales suspended prior to review

Alstom SA, France's prized but indebted maker of super-fast trains and luxury cruise liners, asked for an indefinite suspension to trading in its shares after the EU blocked a bailout plan.

In a statement late Wednesday, the heavy engineering company also reiterated its need for financial help and appealed to EU officials to take into account the "urgency of the situation."

"These are essential requirements to restore the confidence of Alstom's customers and industrial and financial partners in the group's long-term future, confidence which is vital to Alstom's survival," said the statement issued after a lengthy board meeting.

The company said the board would meet again Monday and that its chairman, Patrick Kron, would continue to seek ways out of the impasse with Brussels. Alstom said it requested that trading in its shares be suspended until further notice. Share trading had already been suspended early Wednesday.

Citing antitrust concerns, the EU on Wednesday gave France five days to call off plans to spend billions of dollars to rescue Alstom, or face legal action.

EU antitrust chief Mario Monti set a Monday deadline for Paris to delay the subsidies so he can study their competitive impact, as required by EU law.

Monti and European Commission president Romano Prodi were authorized by the EU executive to start legal action against France's aid package, worth US$8 billion, unless Paris delays the subsidies by Monday.

The EU estimates the French government's share of the bailout will total US$3.55 billion.

The plan is designed to prevent the maker of speedy TGV trains, cruise ships and power generators from going bankrupt, endangering tens of thousands of jobs.

The EU is allowing limited aid for Alstom to bridge immediate liquidity problems, but argues a restructuring can only occur after an in-depth antitrust investigation.
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