France's incoming government could breath new life into the Franco-Indian bid battle for German wind power company Repower, after Anne Lauvergeon, head of the state-owned nuclear group Areva, met the man tipped to be prime minister.

Areva has for several months been locked - with Suzlon Energy of India, the world's fifth largest wind turbine group - in a battle for Repower, but has had its freedom to boost its €1.25bn ($1.7bn) cash offer curbed by Thierry Breton, France's outgoing finance minister. As a result it has not been able to respond to Suzlon's higher cash bid of €1.33bn.