TOKYO: Toshiba Corp plans to make a joint bid with Abu Dhabi National Energy Co (Taqa) for Areva’s power transmission and distribution business, two people familiar with the matter said.

Sources have said the unit could be worth more than 500bn yen ($5.5bn). Areva has chosen Japan’s Toshiba, General Electric and French partners Alstom and Schneider Electric as possible buyers. Toshiba, eager to shore up its power business, is in the final stages of talks with Abu Dhabi National Energy Co to make a joint bid, with final offers due to be submitted by November 9, the two people said.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co, founded in 2005, has invested globally in power generation, upstream oil and gas services and in pipelines. Toshiba is also considering tapping a recently created body backed by the Japanese government to secure funds for the deal, the two people said. No one at Toshiba could be immediately reached for comment.

“I am not aware of this,” Mohamed Mubaideen, senior associate, investor relations at Taqa said. Toshiba had bid on its own for the Areva unit in the first round in September but has since been negotiating with potential partners to help it shoulder the financial burden.

Toshiba, which issued $5bn worth of shares in June, had a shareholders’ equity ratio of 13.5 percent as of the end of September, below that of peers Fujitsu Ltd and NEC Corp and the 20-30 percent considered to be a solid level. Toshiba would tap the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, set up in July to invest in new technologies, pooling 82bn yen in public funds and 8.5bn yen from 17 private sector firms, including GE.

A government guarantee backs up to 800bn yen worth of investment by the fund, allowing the fund to invest up to 900bn yen. Earnings at Toshiba, the world’s No.2 maker of NAND flash memory, remain tied to volatility in the semiconductor market, and the company is eager to shift more weight to its power systems operations, which span nuclear power and smart grids.