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News Wire: Wabtec, GE Transportation announce merger

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Posted by Brian Schmidt on Monday, May 21, 2018 9:36 AM

WILMERDING, Pa. and CHICAGO — Wabtec and GE Transportation are combining, a cording to a statement released at 7 a.m. EDT today, creating what Wabtec says will be a “Fortune 500 company [and a] global leader in rail equipment, software an...

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2018/05/21-wabtec-ge-transportation-announce-merger

Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine

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Posted by Semper Vaporo on Monday, May 21, 2018 10:44 AM

I wonder if George and Thomas are rolling over in their grave's?

Semper Vaporo

Pkgs.

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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, May 21, 2018 11:02 AM

Semper Vaporo
I wonder if George and Thomas are rolling over in their grave's?

Probably duking it out underground - watch out for earthqukes in the near future!  I guess plate tectonics is still active.

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Posted by CandOforprogress2 on Monday, May 21, 2018 1:27 PM

Anti Trust!

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Posted by JoeBlow on Monday, May 21, 2018 6:00 PM

I went to Wabtec's website and couldn't find any information on where they manufacture their products. 

1) How much manufacturing does Wabtec actually do in the United States?

2) Does Wabtec tolerate unions or are they like Caterpillar?

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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, May 21, 2018 6:40 PM

JoeBlow
I went to Wabtec's website and couldn't find any information on where they manufacture their products. 

1) How much manufacturing does Wabtec actually do in the United States?

2) Does Wabtec tolerate unions or are they like Caterpillar?

http://cs.trains.com/trn/f/741/t/270121.aspx

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Posted by mudchicken on Monday, May 21, 2018 7:00 PM

I think George and possibly Nikola are somewhere being very smug watching Edison squirm as GE starts to fail and morphs into something Thomas (and JPMorgan) would not approve of.

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by M636C on Monday, May 21, 2018 9:04 PM

Wabtec own Motive Power in Idaho. My impression is that they are the biggest rebuilder of locomotives in the USA (open to correction) as well as having a couple of lines of new locomotives, including passenger locomotives. If they are combined with the GE operation, that would be an even bigger force in new and rebuilt locomotives, with a lot more rebuildng experience than GE itself. Both MP and GE are involved in rebuilding EMD locomotives.

Peter

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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, May 21, 2018 9:39 PM

M636C
Wabtec own Motive Power in Idaho. My impression is that they are the biggest rebuilder of locomotives in the USA (open to correction) as well as having a couple of lines of new locomotives, including passenger locomotives. If they are combined with the GE operation, that would be an even bigger force in new and rebuilt locomotives, with a lot more rebuildng experience than GE itself. Both MP and GE are involved in rebuilding EMD locomotives.

Peter

The problems I see with the resulting company - will it have the financial leverage like GE has had vs. EMD/CAT to close deals on their financing abilities, not just the features of their products.

Motive Power has existed on ther perifery of the locomotive market - not in the mainstream.  Sort of like doing well in a Double A league - the merger moves the entire result into the Majors.  Does WABTEC and Motive Power have major league ability?

The internal political struggles of the merged property will prove illuminating.

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Posted by samfp1943 on Monday, May 21, 2018 11:17 PM

BaltACD
M636C
Wabtec own Motive Power in Idaho. My impression is that they are the biggest rebuilder of locomotives in the USA (open to correction) as well as having a couple of lines of new locomotives, including passenger locomotives. If they are combined with the GE operation, that would be an even bigger force in new and rebuilt locomotives, with a lot more rebuildng experience than GE itself. Both MP and GE are involved in rebuilding EMD locomotives.   Peter

The problems I see with the resulting company - will it have the financial leverage like GE has had vs. EMD/CAT to close deals on their financing abilities, not just the features of their products.

Motive Power has existed on ther perifery of the locomotive market - not in the mainstream.  Sort of like doing well in a Double A league - the merger moves the entire result into the Majors.  Does WABTEC and Motive Power have major league ability?

The internal political struggles of the merged property will prove illuminating.

      Thanks, Peter(M636C):         It seems more information is creeping out from the corporate world, and into a common knowledge base.  For one, I was aware of Motive Power in Idaho; but apparently was unaware that they were a member of WABTEC's Corporate family.   A relationship that would, in some ways, mirror the EMD/Progress Rail relationship.  Interesting for competition.

  As to the angle of 'Finance' mentrioned by BatlACD; GE Capital has been spun out of GE's Corporation, at some point in the recent past.  As they have also divested themselves of their goal of downsizing by $20 Billion Dollars in Corporate value.

 The following linked site is a recent[05/21/18] Reuters article on this subject, and lays out the tax advantages, and finances in some detail :

@ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-getransportation-m-a-wabtec/ge-to-merge-transportation-unit-with-wabtec-in-11-1-billion-deal-idUSKCN1IM12I

The 'spin' seems to be GE merging into WABTEC.  (?)  Whistling

 

 


 

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Posted by erikem on Monday, May 21, 2018 11:21 PM

mudchicken

I think George and possibly Nikola are somewhere being very smug watching Edison squirm as GE starts to fail and morphs into something Thomas (and JPMorgan) would not approve of.

 

I think it would be more like "morphs into something that Coffin and Morgan would not approve of". Coffin tried to get Westinghouse into GE, boasting to George about how he cheated Elihu Thompson out of his share of the Thompson Houston company, which was emphatically not the way to impress George. Westinghouse is grossly under appreciated these days.

While Tesla did come up with the idea for the induction motor and polyphase AC, much of the original impetus for AC came from Stanley and the development of a practical induction motor was due to B. G. Lamme (Ohio grad).

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Posted by edblysard on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 12:04 PM
Don’t know if they can hang there with the big guys, but they do make a very good switching locomotive.
Our MK1500Ds didn’t go in for a major rebuild program until they were almost 20 years old…that is a long time for a road switcher type locomotive used almost exclusively as a yard engine.

 

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Posted by azrail on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 2:39 PM

GE will be a scant majority owner in the new company (50.1%)

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Posted by carnej1 on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 2:42 PM

One thing I'm wondering about this merger is how it will affect the ongoing business relationship Wabtec has had with Cat/Progress Rail(i.e the late, great EMD)?

 The company is a major component supplier to the entire OEM locomotive industry and that side of their business is much bigger than the manufacture/remanufacture of whole locomotives has been for them. Brake systems/components are a prime example, after all the the WAB in Wabtec stands for Westinghouse Air Brake.

 Is Cat/Progress going to have a sourcing issue?

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Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 3:04 PM

azrail
GE will be a scant majority owner in the new company (50.1%)

GE will get a $2.9 billion up-front cash payment and 9.9% of the new company. The GE shareholders get 40.2% and existing Wabtec shareholders 49.9%.

9.9 + 40.2 = 50.1% but that doesn't mean that GE can control these completely.
Regards, Volker

 

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 3:54 PM

edblysard
Don’t know if they can hang there with the big guys, but they do make a very good switching locomotive.

Won't they be one of the (few) big boys?

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Posted by YoHo1975 on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 1:54 AM
EMD doesn't have sourcing problems getting Locotrol DPU technology...a GE product.
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Posted by LensCapOn on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 9:25 AM

VOLKER LANDWEHR

 

 
azrail
GE will be a scant majority owner in the new company (50.1%)

 

GE will get a $2.9 billion up-front cash payment and 9.9% of the new company. The GE shareholders get 40.2% and existing Wabtec shareholders 49.9%.

9.9 + 40.2 = 50.1% but that doesn't mean that GE can control these completely.
Regards, Volker

 

 

 

My "Six" GE shares are happier now.......

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Posted by YoHo1975 on Wednesday, May 23, 2018 10:42 AM
And presumably you'll get 6 shares of the spin merge too.

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