CVC pulls out of GE talks over Areva unit-report

PARIS , Nov 8 (Reuters) - Private equity fund CVC has pulled out of talks with General Electric (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) about a possible joint bid for the power and transmission unit of France's Areva (CEPFi.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), a French financial news service reported on Sunday.

Spokesmen for the firms involved could not immediately be reached for comment.

State-owned nuclear reactor group Areva is selling its T&D unit and has selected Japan's Toshiba (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research), a consortium led by U.S.-based GE, and French partners Alstom (ALSO.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Schneider Electric (SCHN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) as possible buyers.

Binding offers are expected for Nov. 9 ahead of an Areva decision set for Nov. 16.

Citing banking sources, news service Wansquare, a joint venture between the Journal des Finances and Le Figaro newspapers, said that CVC had withdrawn from the GE-led consortium because of disagreements with the U.S. power giant.

The disagreements were over the voting rights CVC would have in the consortium, should it win the bid for Areva T&D and not over financial or industrial concerns, Wansquare wrote.

"To replace CVC, Clara Gaymard (head of GE's French division) is seeking a last-minute alliance with Axa Private Equity," Wansquare wrote.

According to a report in the French business daily Les Echos on Friday, GE was talking to sovereign funds in Singapore, Korea and Qatar about its possible bid for Areva T&D.

An alliance with one of them could reduce CVC's interest and increase that of GE, the paper said.