PARIS -(Dow Jones)- France's state investment fund the Fonds Strategique d'Investissement isn't involved in the bidding process for Areva SA's (CEI.FR) power transmission and distribution business, a spokesman for the fund said Monday.

The deadline for potential buyers to make binding bids is understood to expire Monday.

"We aren't participating in this process," the FSI spokesman said, adding that means the fund isn't involved either directly or indirectly.

"It didn't seem to us that the different candidates had difficulty" in getting hold of financing, the spokesman also said.

-By Adam Mitchell, Dow Jones Newswires, +33 1 40171756; adam.mitchell@dowjones.com

Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=MJzxBhF%2FjzBefbmnV8by9Q%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.

Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.