Areva is expected to pick the winning bidder for its transmission and distribution business next month. The French state-owned nuclear group is selling this profitable asset to raise funds for its hefty €10bn ($14.8bn) investment programme.

It will also need to find another €2bn to buy its German partner Siemens out of its old nuclear engineering joint venture in two years’ time as a result of Siemens’ decision to exercise its option to pull out of the partnership.