On Wednesday, 8 July, Alstom’s shareholders met to decide on the planned acquisition of Bombardier Transportation. As the EU Competition Commission has a say in such large company takeovers, it is very likely that Alstom will be obliged to give some commitments. The deadline for the European Commission’s statements ends on 16 July. Alstom already communicated its proposal for concessions today (9 July) which is intended to prevent the future group from becoming a monopoly.
After initial discussions with the European Commission, Alstom announced its intent, in coordination with Bombardier Transportation and the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec (CDPQ), to submit commitments to respond to the Commission’s potential concerns.
The Bombardier Engineering and Production site Hennigsdorf is the home of the TALENT 3 regional train among other products I © Bombardier Transportation
Alstom would sell its regional train platform Coradia Polyvalent which is currently being produced for SNCF in Reichshoffen I © Alstom Transport
The proposed commitments include:
- A transfer of Bombardier Transportation’s contribution to the V300 ZEFIRO very high-speed train which has been developed and produced by Bombardier in cooperation with Hitachi Italy (formerly Ansaldo Breda)
- The divestment of the Alstom Coradia Polyvalent and the Reichshoffen production site in France
- The divestment of the Bombardier TALENT 3 platform and dedicated production facilities located within the Hennigsdorf site in Germany
- Providing access to certain interfaces and products for some of Bombardier Transportation’s Signalling On-Board Units and Train Control Management Systems (TCMS)
According to news reports published earlier this week, market analysists expect a very strong market position by Alstom after the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation which would have led to a close to 100% market share in France and approximately 70 % market share for regional trains in Germany. Original fears that the Alstom site in Salzgitter and the Bombardier sites in Bautzen and Görlitz, where trams and double-decker cars are produced, have so far not materialized. The Saxon state government in particular has already announced support in the form of a planned guarantee for the plants in Bautzen and Görlitz.
The contemplated commitments are subject to the European Commission’s approval. Closing of the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation remains on track for the first half of 2021 as we reported here earlier:
09.07.2020
