Areva says T&D sale to include Indian business

PARIS, July 2 (Reuters) - French nuclear reactor group Areva (CEPFi.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) will sell its T&D India (AREV.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) business along with its overall power transmission and distribution (T&D) division, an Areva spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Areva's supervisory board approved plans to put T&D up for sale on Tuesday as part of a package of measures to help finance the state-controlled group's investment needs.

T&D is estimated to be worth around 4 billion euros and has already attracted interest from French heavy engineering group Alstom (ALSO.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Germany's Siemens (SIEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research).

Areva T&D India is 72-percent owned by T&D, and about 20 percent of the company is listed on the Mumbai Stock Exchange. It has a market capitalisation of $1.8 billion.

"If T&D was to be sold.... it would be a simple transfer of T&D's shares in Areva T&D India to the new buyer, and this does not imply any change in the company's market listing," the Areva spokeswoman said.

"After that, it is up to the new owner of T&D to decide whether to keep or sell Areva T&D India, but in any case Areva T&D India will be sold under the T&D package," she added.

Areva Chief Executive Anne Lauvergeon said on Tuesday she expected T&D to be sold before the end of the year. (Reporting by Marie Maitre; Editing by James Regan)