Railway supply industry news round-up

On May 4 Bombardier Inc announced the successful sale of 11 504 149 shares in Alstom, representing 3∙1% of Alstom share capital, at a price of €44 per share in an accelerated bookbuilt offering to qualified investors. Following the settlement of the offering, which should take place on May 7, Bombardier will have fully divested its stake in Alstom’s common stock.

Robel Holding has acquired a 25∙1% stake in rail treatment technology specialist Schweerbau International, and has gained the exclusive rights to market all SBI technologies and associated products. The other owners of SBI are Schweerbau, Mevert Maschinenbau and Walter Bredemeyer. ‘Our aim is to raise the profile of rail treatment at an international level’, said Robel Holding Managing Director Wolfgang Fally on May 3. ‘To achieve this, each partner will contribute what they are best at: SBI is the technology expert in treatment of rail surfaces, Robel supplies the experience as a machine manufacturer as well as a worldwide sales and service network.’

Interscience Fire Laboratory has certified ELeather’s upholstery material as meeting the EN45545-2:2020 European standard for fire protection on trains. ‘We’re pleased to have our railway product tested and certified to the latest version of EN45545-2:2020 with a level HL3’, said Louise Gear, ELeather’s Director of Transport. ‘This validates that ELeather material is safe to use on a range of rolling stock, including high speed and regional trains across Europe and that seats upholstered in our material will not only be comfortable but also safe for passengers.’ 

Canadian industrial technology group Eddyfi/NDT has acquired London-based Senceive, which supplies wireless condition monitoring technology for civil engineering applications. Senceive will join Eddyfi/NDT as a separate entity and will continue to operate under the Senceive name. ‘We are taking our first steps in infrastructure monitoring, a critical, dynamic and huge market powered by innovation and technological advances’, said Eddyfi/NDT CEO Martin Theriault on May 4. ‘We see a great synergy between the test and inspection expertise within our business and the longer-term condition monitoring capability of Senceive.’