EXCLUSIVE - GE expected to win EU approval for $14 bln Alstom deal - sources

By Foo Yun Chee

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - General Electric is expected to secure approval from European Union antitrust regulators for its proposed 12.4 billion euro ($13.8 billion) deal to buy French peer Alstom's power business, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The green light from the European Commission will come 14 years after it rejected General Electric's (GE) attempt at a $42 billion takeover of Honeywell International, despite clearance by U.S. authorities.

The U.S. conglomerate, which offered concessions to head off the Commission's worries about the company's largest ever acquisition, improved its package last week.

"GE is likely to get approval," one of the sources said.

The second source said GE had offered to divest some manufacturing and services activities and research and development units around the world, including a facility in Switzerland and Alstom's Power Systems Manufacturing operation.

The people said Italian company Ansaldo Energia was seen as the preferred buyer for the assets.

Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso declined to comment.

GE spokesman Jim Healy said: "We submitted a remedy package that addresses the Commission's concerns and preserves the economic rationale of the deal."

An Alstom spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

($1 = 0.8998 euros)

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Additional reporting by Michel Rose in Paris; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Mark Potter)