French company Alstom has announced on Monday, 17th Feb, that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bombardier Inc. and agreed to buy the rail division of Bombardier.
“I’m very proud to announce the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation, which is a unique opportunity to strengthen our global position on the booming mobility market. This acquisition will improve our global reach and our ability to respond to the ever-increasing need for sustainable mobility. Bombardier Transportation will bring to Alstom complementary geographical presence and an industrial footprint in growing markets, as well as additional technological platforms.” said Henri Poupart-Lafarge, Chairman and CEO of Alstom.
“It will significantly increase our innovation capabilities to lead smart and green innovation. We will be thrilled to welcome all the talent and energy of Bombardier Transportation employees. We are deeply committed to step up the turnaround of Bombardier Transportation activities and deliver significant value to all stakeholders, particularly our customers.” he further said
“We will also further develop Bombardier Transportation’s historical presence in Québec, drawing on Québec’s well-established strengths in innovation and sustainable mobility. We are pleased to welcome CDPQ as a new long-term shareholder. CDPQ is fully supportive of the transaction and Alstom’s strategy.” Henri added.
Alstom has offered to pay up to 6.2 billion euros ($6.8 billion) in a mix of cash and shares for the cash-strapped Canadian firm’s rail division, according to a memorandum of understanding signed between the firms. The acquisition must now be approved by EU competition regulators.
Last year, Alstom tried to merge its rail manufacturing with that of German industrial giant Siemens, but Brussels put the brakes on the deal, ruling that a merged company would have dominated the European market at the expense of consumers.
This time around, Alstom Chief Executive Henri Poupart-Lafarge is optimistic, and said Monday that the Bombardier deal was different than that failed Siemens merger and that regulatory hurdles were “not a huge issue.”
“If there are some issues, they will much easier to solve than the one we had with Siemens,” he told Reuters news agency.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire is due to meet with EU’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager on Tuesday to discuss the deal. France was critical of the EU’s decision to block last year’s merger attempt and supports the potential Alstom-Bombardier merger.
For more details pls read- https://www.alstom.com/press-releases-news/2020/2/acquisition-bombardier-transportation-accelerating-alstoms-strategic
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