New payment in Siemens-Areva split

Friday, 20 May 2011 Siemens' exit from a joint-venture reactor business with Areva is now complete after the German company paid a final €648 million ($923 million) settlement. Siemens earlier received some €1.62 billion ($2.29 billion) from Areva, which executed its buy-out option after Siemens decided to leave to increase its "entrepreneurial maneuverability." The latest payment was ordered by a tribunal and relates to Siemens having not fully met its contractual obligations in the joint venture. Another effect of the tribunal was to limit the companies' non-compete agreement to four years, although the validity of this is under investigation by the European Commission.