(CercleFinance.com) – The European Commission announces that it has approved the proposed acquisition of Thales’ land transport business by Hitachi Rail under certain conditions.
After carrying out an investigation into the project, the Commission expressed concern that the operation, as initially proposed, would reduce competition, leading to higher prices and a reduction in innovation in the markets for main line signaling projects. railways in France and Germany.
‘In these markets, the operation would have brought together two close competitors and the entity resulting from the merger would have acquired very high market shares,’ underlines the Commission.
To address these concerns, Hitachi Rail has offered to divest its main line signaling platforms in France and Germany for interlocking, overlaying and resigning projects.
Following the positive feedback received in the market test of the commitments, the Commission concluded that the transaction, as amended by the commitments, would no longer raise competition concerns. The decision is, of course, conditional on full compliance with the commitments.