China Railway Rolling Stock Corp is in takeover talks with Skoda Transportation. Through its subsidiary CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co, one of CRRC’s manufacturers mainly producing electric locomotives, is in charge of the talks to buy a 100 percent stake in Skoda Transportation, company said. If the deal is sealed, this will be the first time the Chinese group has taken over a full-set rail transit equipment manufacturer.
The filing did not disclose the takeover price. The two parties have yet to sign any legally binding transaction document. This move will further extend CRRC’s presence in European markets.
“CRRC is shifting its focus to overseas expansion. Acquiring local companies is a more convenient method for CRRC to gain more access to Europe, compared with building the market by itself,” said Cheng Hui, a researcher at the Institute of Transportation Research at the National Development and Reform Commission.
The deal is seen as CRRC’s latest effort to expand overseas. Prior to that, CRRC’s subsidiaries including CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive, Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric Co and CRRC Sifang Co invested 3 billion yuan (USD 434.4 million) to acquire European technologies and manufacturing parts suppliers including the United Kingdom-based Dynex and Germany’s Boge Elastmetall GmbH.
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