Just over a year after European regulators rejected a merger between Alstom of France and Siemens of Germany that would have created a rail-equipment powerhouse, Alstom is going back to Brussels with a new partner and a new deal — and this one is more likely to pass muster, according to experts in EU competition law.
Alstom is buying the rail division of Bombardier of Canada for around €6 billion in cash and stock, according to a memorandum of agreement signed late Monday. The acquisition, if approved, will consolidate Alstom’s position as the second-largest rail equipment company in the world by revenue, after CRRC Corp. of China and ahead of Siemens, according to data from SCI Verkehr, a research concern specializing in transportation.
