Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: EC Approves Acquisition in Railway Signalling Market, (Apr 18, 2013)
Organizations Mentioned:Invensys plc | Siemens AG
By Jeffrey May, J.D.
Siemens AG received clearance today from the European Commission (EC) to proceed with its proposed acquisition of Invensys Rail, the rail automation business of United Kingdom-based Invensys Group. Siemens of Germany announced the proposed acquisition in November 2012. The deal is valued at approximately €2.2 billion.
According to the EC's announcement, the transaction would not raise competition concerns in the markets for the sale of railway signalling projects and products for mainline railway and mass transit. Invensys Rail and Siemens were found not to be close competitors. Moreover, the merged entity would continue to face competition from a number of other strong competitors, such as Thales, Alstom, Bombardier and Ansaldo, it was noted.
Last November, Siemens said that it intended to integrate Invensys Rail into Siemens' Rail Automation business in the Mobility and Logistics Division of the Infrastructure & Cities Sector. "Invensys Rail has a strong footprint and a well established reputation with customers in the UK, Spain, the U.S. and Australia which will extend Siemens' Rail Automation existing presence in countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland as well as China and India," according to Seimens.
Invensys plc issued a statement today, saying that it has been informed that all of the necessary antitrust clearances have now been received. The deal is expected to close on May 2.
Companies: Siemens AG; Invensys plc
News: Antitrust