SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, France — Alstom will sell its North American signal business to Knorr-Bremse of Germany for about €630 million, or about $671 million, the companies announced today.
The sale, which Alstom describes as covering the conventional portion of its North American signaling business, is part of a plan announced in November to sell up to €1 billion in assets to address a negative cash flow and drop in stock value [see “Alstom plans asset sale …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 16, 2023]. Many of the company’s financial issues stem from its 2021 acquisition of Bombardier.
Munich-based Knorr-Bremse, known first for brake systems, also provides HVAC and auxiliary power supply systems, traction and control equipment, driver assistance systems, and other technology for freight, passenger, and mass transit rail systems through its Rail Vehicles Systems division. Its existing U.S. businesses include New York Air Brake and Knorr Brake Co. in Westminster, Maryland.
“This acquisition is good for Knorr-Bremse and will drive our profitable growth further,” CEO Marc Llistosella said in a press release. “With it, we are not just building on our highly profitable rail business. Rather, we will also become one of the U.S. market leaders in North America in the rail control, command, and signaling segment, or CCS for short. The transaction pursues a compelling industrial logic and is a very good match for our development and growth path, as we announced in our ‘BOOST 2026’ strategy program.” Dr. Nicolas Lange, the Knorr-Bremse board member responsible for the company’s Rail Vehicle Systems division, added, “The CCS market is of approximately € 20 billion globally, making it a highly attractive rail segment. For us as an international systems supplier, the transaction is a substantial step forward in electronics and digitalization in rail infrastructure. Brakes and signalling technology have a critical influence on the safety and capacity of rail transportation. The CCS segment fits into the DNA of the Knorr-Bremse Rail division amazingly.”
The deal is expected to close this summer.
“We are pleased to sign this agreement, which marks an important step in the implementation of our action plan,” Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge said in a press release. “It evidences the work of our North American signaling employees, who have built and advanced this very successful business over the past few years.” The portion of the business to be sold had revenues of approximately €300 million, or $319.5 million, in fiscal 2023-24.
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I always thought Knorr made hollandaise sauce for eggs benedict. 🙂
Oy. Some of Alstom’s signal products came from GE when the deal was made to sell off Alstom’s generation business. Now all of this product support will go someplace else. Fun times to be had at 2am on a Sunday morning when you’re trying to get tech help.