Siemens draws Indian bidders

The three bidders Siemens is negotiating with are a group led by Austria's Cross Industries, Indian conglomerate Tata, and Argentine manufacturer Impsa.

German industrial conglomerate Siemens has picked bidders from Austria, India and Argentina for the Austrian hydropower business it is selling, Austrian newspaper Der Standard reported on Wednesday.

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The three bidders Siemens is negotiating with are a group led by Austria's Cross Industries, Indian conglomerate Tata, and Argentine manufacturer Impsa, the daily reported, quoting sources close to the company. Siemens in Munich had no immediate comment on the report.

Siemens previously said it expects to raise more than 300 million euros ($357 million) for the hydropower business, which it must sell as a condition for its 1-billion euro takeover of Austrian technology group VA Tech.

Binding bids by the seven interested parties that had been shortlisted in the first round had been due by December 19.

Other parties interested had been Austrian industrialist Mirko Kovats's A-Tec, a consortium led by industrialist Hannes Androsch and machinery maker Andritz, but none of them is in the race any more, the paper said.