On May 28, France’s Ministry for Economy and Finance granted authorisation to Siemens under a decree relating to foreign investment in France. The following day, the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) granted Siemens an unconditional exemption from the mandatory filing of a tender offer following the completion of the contribution of its mobility business, against newly issued shares in the combined company which represents 50% of Alstom’s share capital on a fully diluted basis.

Alstom described the two authorisations as “key milestones” in the proposed merger.

On May 30, the Alstom Board agreed to convene a shareholders’ meeting on July 17 and the draft resolutions relating to the merger which will be submitted for approval.