With the future of Compagnie Generale des Constructions Telephoniques finally settled in L M Ericsson’s favour, another telecommunications sitution is developing in France. Schneider SA wants to find an outside investor for its Jeumont-Schneider SA subsidiary, and says that it is in talks with several foreign electronics concerns on an international joint venture. It acknowledges that Siemens, with which it was partnered in the bidding for CGCT, is one of the parties to which it is talking, but declines to identify the others. One that has been named is Northern Telecom, and others are likely to include the new Telit SpA in Italy and Plessey here – and possibly Ericsson as well. Jeumont-Schneider’s strong suit is in small and medium sized PABXs, which might make a reasonable fit with Plessey’s large private switches. Telecommunications products account for only 30% of the company’s $920m or so annual turnover; the balance is in alternators and other heavy electrical gear.