By Nathan Allen 
 

Siemens AG (SIE.XE) and Alstom SA (ALO.FR) on Wednesday said that they submitted proposals for divestments to the European Commission in an effort to assuage regulator concerns over the planned merger of their rail businesses.

The proposed divestments include some signaling activities and rolling-stock products and would represent around 4% of the sales of the combined entity, the companies said in a joint statement.

Siemens and Alstom said they consider the measures to be appropriate and adequate but there was no certainty they would be sufficient to alleviate the commission's concerns.

The regulator is set to make a decision by Feb. 18, the companies said.

In October the regulator sent letters to the two companies detailing a list of objections to the deal, which would merge Alstom with Siemens's Mobility unit to create a pan-European train maker with the scale to take on state-backed Chinese rivals.

The letter raised concerns the deal would reduce competition in rolling stock and signaling systems in Europe, as the combined Siemens-Alstom would dwarf local competitors and have outsize influence on the market.

Write to Nathan Allen at nathan.allen@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 12, 2018 01:59 ET (06:59 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.