Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have joined forces to plan a joint bid for Alstom’s energy assets – in a move that pits the German and Japanese industrial conglomerates against General Electric of the US, which has already offered $16.9bn for the French group’s energy business.

Executives at Siemens now believe a joint bid is more likely to overcome objections from European competition authorities, said one person familiar with the decision.

Last month, the German group had suggested offering its train business to Alstom, in exchange for Alstom’s energy operations. But, as Siemens already controls close to 50 per cent of the European Union’s high-voltage direct current energy market, a deal including Alstom’s power grid operations could have fallen foul of the regulators, the person said.