The European Commission (EC) has announced today its decision to prohibit the proposed merger of the Siemens and Alstom mobility businesses. As a result of this prohibition, the merger will not proceed.
Alstom regrets that the remedies offered, including recent improvements, have been considered insufficient by the Commission. The remedies were extensive in scope and addressed all the concerns raised by the Commission in respect of Signaling or Very High Speed trains. In addition, a number of credible and well-established European players expressed strong interest for the remedy package, thereby fully confirming its viability.
This is a clear set-back for Industry in Europe. Alstom, together with Siemens, is convinced that the transaction would have created substantial value for the global mobility sector, the European railway industry, customers, travelers and commuters, without harming European competition. It would also have allowed the creation of a European player having the ability to cope with the growing competition from non-EU companies.
[Press release] We regret the @EU_Commission 's prohibition decision for the merger of our business with @SiemensMobility https://t.co/4HBontpdqK pic.twitter.com/ZxpNN8f9PN
— Alstom (@Alstom) February 6, 2019
The Board of Directors has unanimously thanked Alstom’s team for its outstanding management of this project and has highlighted the company’s very strong performance during this period.
Looking ahead, Alstom will focus on pursuing its growth path as a global leader in the mobility sector supported by excellent business fundamentals: a global footprint, a record €40 billion backlog, sales constantly outperforming market growth, and a very solid balance sheet. With a successful 2020 Strategy that delivered results ahead of target, Alstom remains today uniquely placed to offer customers and ultimately passengers, competitive, clean, and innovative mobility solutions. Alstom will now project itself into a new future and define a strategic roadmap including appropriate capital allocation.
