GE to face probe related to LM Wind Power deal - Bloomberg

(Reuters) - General Electric Co is being investigated by the European Union for providing misleading information during a merger review, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing two people familiar with the case.

The European Commission, which acts as the EU's competition watchdog, was reviewing whether GE misled EU officials reviewing a deal to buy LM Wind Power, a Denmark-based maker of rotor blades, Bloomberg said. (https://bloom.bg/2qGUff5)

GE said in October it would buy LM Wind Power from private equity firm Doughty Hanson for $1.65 billion, as it looks to capture a bigger share of the fast-growing renewable energy market. The EU had cleared the deal in March.

GE was not immediately available for comment.

The company told the regulators that it did not have any plans to develop a new giant offshore wind turbine but the EU started to suspect that it had been misled shortly after the deal was approved, Bloomberg reported.

The probe could lead to GE facing a penalty of up to 1 percent of its annual sales for breaking the EU's rules among other actions, according to Bloomberg.

The EU fined Facebook Inc 110 million euros ($122 million) in May for providing misleading information during a vetting of its deal to acquire messaging service WhatsApp in 2014.

(Reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)