General Electric (GE) met EU antitrust regulators, hoping they will take a softer line on its 12.4 billion euro ($13.7 billion) bid for Alstom’s energy unit.

The U.S. conglomerate asked for the closed-door hearing after the European Commission said the deal, GE’s biggest ever, would harm competition because it would leave just two gas turbine companies in Europe – GE and German rival Siemens, according to Reuters.

Steve Bolze, president and CEO of GE Power & Water, GE’s biggest industrial unit, is expected to counter the Commission’s concerns with data showing that the merged company’s market power would not be as dominant as painted by the regulator.

He is also likely to call for a broader assessment of the sector to take into account Chinese rivals, which the Commission has excluded from its review.

GE is expected to offer concessions in the coming days. It has said it would be willing to give up some intellectual property rights related to some of Alstom’s assets but not anything that would affect lucrative service revenue streams.

Autor: Bogdan Tudorache

Active in the economic and business press for the past 26 years, Bogdan graduated Law and then attended intensive courses in Economics and Business English. He went up to the position of editor-in-chief since 2006 and has provided management and editorial policy for numerous economic publications dedicated especially to the community of foreign investors in Romania. From 2003 to 2013 he was active mainly in the financial-banking sector. He started freelancing for Energynomics in 2013, notable for his advanced knowledge of markets, business communities and a mature editorial style, both in Romanian and English.