U.S., Alstom Near $500 Million Settlement

By Joel Schectman, Rachel Louise Ensign and Andrew Grossman 

U.S. prosecutors are close to a deal with Alstom SA that would require the engineering giant to pay more than $500 million to settle a foreign bribery probe, people familiar with the matter said.

A settlement of that size would be the largest-ever deal between a corporation and the Justice Department related to foreign bribery. A deal could be announced in coming weeks.

Prosecutors want to extract a large penalty from Alston in part because of its initial failure to cooperate with the government's investigation, the people said.

The discussions to wrap up the investigation come as General Electric Co. is closing its purchase of most of the French company. Alstom has in recent years faced a number of bribery investigations around the world, and the U.S. probe has also led to charges being brought against former executives.

Earlier this month, Justice Department criminal division chief Leslie Caldwell said she expects "additional law-enforcement actions" soon in the broader probe that involves Alstom.

Write to Joel Schectman at [e-mail], Rachel Louise Ensign at [e-mail] and Andrew Grossman at [e-mail]

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