The French railway manufacturer Alstom will finalize the takeover of its competitor Bombardier Transport on Friday, which will make it the world number two in the sector behind the Chinese giant CRRC, with a dominant position in France.
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The operation, which should cost the French group a maximum of 5.3 billion euros, will give rise to a group weighing 15.7 billion euros in turnover, with an order book reaching 71.1 billion .
Alstom will employ some 75,000 people in 70 countries, with the world headquarters not moving from Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), near Paris.
The threat of the Chinese CRRC had officially motivated the proposed merger between Siemens Mobility and Alstom, blocked by the European Commission in February 2019. A year after the failure of this Franco-German engagement, the difficulties of the Canadian conglomerate Bombardier enabled Alstom to bounce back by making an offer on its rail part - itself based in Berlin - to stand out.
"
In the previous deal, it was Siemens which had the ascendancy, whereas here it is clearly Alstom
", remarks François Guénard, consultant at Roland Berger.
The business was carried out smoothly, the ranges and geographical locations of Astom and Bombardier Transport being considered to be quite complementary.
“
We had no problem with the competition authorities because precisely, market by market, our strengths are their weaknesses and vice versa,
” explains Henri Poupart-Lafarge, CEO of Alstom.
The group will employ around 11,500 people in France
In France, Alstom is taking over the country's largest railway plant in Crespin (North).
The group will employ around 11,500 people in France, with sales of 3.2 billion euros - of which 30% for export.
Alstom and Bombardier being so far in a quasi-duopoly situation, their association will be dominant on the French market, where only Siemens and Spain's CAF have so far placed their products.
A new player must however arrive on the French market, the Czech group Skoda Transportation being in negotiations to buy the Alsatian plant of Reichshoffen (Bas-Rhin), which Alstom has promised to sell to obtain the green light from Brussels.
The buyer will continue the Regiolis series, a TER model popular with the regions.
