USA: The US Department of Justice has closed its review of the pending merger of Wabtec and GE Transportation, the companies announced on January 15.
General Electric announced in November 2017 that its was looking to dispose of its Transportation business, and a definitive merger agreement with Wabtec was announced in May 2018. The transaction is now expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2019, subject to satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions.
Wabtec said the combined company is expected to have ‘significantly expanded margins, a highly attractive profile based on an improved business mix, expanded global reach, and faster innovation in key growth areas’.
‘The DOJ’s decision to close its review of the pending merger marks a significant milestone for our customers, employees, and shareholders’, said Wabtec President & CEO Raymond T Betler. ‘By bringing together GE Transportation, a global digital industrial leader and supplier to the rail, mining, marine, stationary power and drilling industries, with Wabtec’s broad range of freight, transit and electronics solutions, we will have the capability and expertise to invent smarter ways to move and improve the world.’
