According to a report by Business Insider Polska, the Polish government is considering the possibility of acquiring Talgo.
Spain’s government has blocked several attempt of a foreign takeover of the company, most notably the Hungarian consortium Ganz Mavag Europe.
Previous attempts to acquire Talgo
The Council of Ministers in Madrid decided “not to approve foreign direct investment in Talgo S.A. launched by Ganz Mavag Europe Private Limited, for reasons related to the protection of the strategic interests and national security of Spain.”
As 45% of Ganz-Mavag shares are owned by the Hungarian state company Corvinus, the main speculation was that the Spanish Government has an issue with Viktor Orban’s political leanings and is afraid about potential political interference with one of Spain’s strategic companies.
The Škoda Group has also recently made a merger offer to Talgo. Talgo said it had asked Skoda for detailed information to be able to evaluate whether it surpasses the EUR 619 million (USD 674 million) in cash offered by Ganz-Mavag on March 7.
The Spanish manufacturer said at the time that Škoda Group’s offer cannot compete with that of Ganz-MaVag.
Polands wants “in-house” high speed trains
According to Business Insider Polska, Poland wants to enter the high-speed train manufacturing market by taking over Talgo and is seeking support for the transaction from Pedro Sánchez’s government. The acquisition would thus enable Poland to build high-speed trains for it’s HSR projects.
Three weeks ago, Pesa, controlled by the Polish Development Fund owned by the State Treasury, signed a cooperation agreement with Talgo on the production of high-speed trains.
The two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during InnoTrans 2024, the world’s biggest transport show in Berlin and where both companies presented their offering for rail passenger markets across the European Union.
The owners of Talgo seem ready to sell, but it remains to be seen if Polish Prim-Minister Donald Tusk can convince it’s counterpart.
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