European Union antitrust regulators are set to warn General Electric on Friday that its proposed bid for Alstom's power unit will harm competition unless GE can convince them otherwise, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
GE is now seeking to counter the European Commission's concerns with some concessions in a bid to stave off the statement of objections, the people said. However, it did not appear to have much success.
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"A statement of objections could come on Friday," one of the people said.
Such a document sets out the EU regulator's views why a deal is seen as anti-competitive and is a prelude to a veto unless companies come up with strong arguments or significant concessions.
"We continue to work constructively with the Commission, including continued work on remedies, and we are focused on a positive outcome that preserves the deal economics, a GE spokesperson told CNBC. "We are also making progress with regulatory approvals in other jurisdictions, having received numerous approvals, including Brazil, South Africa, and India. We are still targeting the second half of the year for closing of the transaction."
—CNBC contributed to this report.