Hitachi Rail has officially acquired Thales’ Ground Transportation Systems for a price of 1.66 billion EUR.
The acquisition was completed on 31 May, extending Hitachi Rail’s global presence to 51 countries.
With this acquisition, the majority of Hitachi Rail’s revenues now come from signalling and systems.
It also sees 9,000 highly skilled colleagues join the Hitachi Rail business, taking the company to 24,000 employees worldwide.
“Hitachi continues its transformation to become a global leader in Social Innovation Business and is undergoing a mode change to achieve growth under the Mid-term Management Plan 2024. The acquisition of the Thales GTS business represents a significant milestone, and we are pleased to have achieved it in the final year of the plan.
“By welcoming new Hitachi Rail colleagues, Hitachi's Railway systems business has strengthened its presence in the global market. Hitachi will enhance its digital services by leveraging IT, OT, and products on an expanded installed base in the mobility arena, and solve global social challenges through co-creation with customers. Through this acquisition and Hitachi’s overall growth, we will continue to support our customers' digital and green transformations and contribute to the realisation of a sustainable society.”
This transaction almost doubles Hitachi Rail’s engineering capability. The expanded business now plans to achieve greater cost competitiveness, including improving the effectiveness of procurement, optimising engineering capabilities and investment in R&D.
To achieve clearance for this merger and ensure competition in the field was not reduced, Hitachi Rail had to previously divest its mainline signalling businesses in France, Germany and the UK.
“Completing this transaction is a historic moment for our business, as we expand to 51 countries and increase our revenues to €7.3bn globally. Hitachi Rail’s greater global reach and accelerated innovation is the start of an exciting new chapter that will deliver enhanced value and growth in new markets.
“With Thales’ Ground Transportation Systems team on board, we can better deliver the sustainable mobility transition for the world’s best transport companies. Bringing our teams together sees our engineering capacity nearly double and means faster innovation and more advanced technology-led solutions for our customers.”
