WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department gave General Electric Co conditional approval to buy Converteam, a French maker of high-efficiency motors that oil and gasoline refineries use.
The Justice Department said on Monday that it would require Converteam Group SAS to sell its Electric Machinery Holding Co to proceed with the $3.2 billion deal for a majority stake in the French company.
"The divestiture will preserve the benefits of competition for refinery customers in the United States," said Sharis Pozen, the acting head of the Justice Department's antitrust division. "As originally proposed, the acquisition would have lessened the competition that currently exists among manufacturers of low-speed synchronous electric motors."