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Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar,
Avelia ''Avelia'' is a genus of karyorelict ciliates belonging to the family Geleiidae. The genus name is a taxonomic patronyms honoring Marcel Avel (1900–1983; professor of anatomy), with slight modification into the ''nomen novum'' ''Avelia'' ...
and New Pendolino high-speed trains, in addition to suburban, regional and metro trains, and Citadis trams. Alsthom (originally Als-Thom) was formed by a merger between Compagnie Française Thomson-Houston and the electric engineering division of Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques in 1928. Significant later acquisitions included the Constructions Electriques de France (1932), shipbuilder
Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire river and ...
(1976), and parts of ACEC (Belgium, late-1980s). A merger with parts of the
General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was founded in 1886, was Britain's largest private employer with over 250 ...
(UK) formed GEC Alsthom in 1989. Throughout the 1990s, the company expanded its holdings in the rail sector, via the acquisition of German rolling stock manufacturer Linke-Hofmann-Busch and Italian rail signalling specialist Sasib Railways. In 1998, GEC Alsthom was floated on the
Paris Stock Exchange Euronext Paris is France's securities market, formerly known as the Paris Bourse, which merged with the Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Brussels exchanges in September 2000 to form Euronext NV. As of 2022, the 795 companies listed had a combined market ...
and, later that year, it was rebranded Alstom. In 2003, the company required a €3.2 billion state-backed bailout from the French government. As a result, Alstom was compelled to dispose of several of its divisions, including shipbuilding and electrical transmission to Nikhanj Power, in order to comply with European Union rules on
state aid State aid in the European Union is the name given to a subsidy or any other aid provided by a government that distorts competitions. Under European Union competition law the term has a legal meaning, being any measure that demonstrates any of the ...
. It was able to re-acquire its electric transmission division in 2010. In 2004, Alstom was again in financial difficulties, having incurred massive unexpected costs (€4 billion) arising from a design flaw inherited from the acquisition of ABB Group's turbine business, in addition to losses in other business sectors. In 2014, Alstom and General Electric (GE) announced that a US$17 billion (€12.4 billion) bid for Alstom's power and grid divisions had been made and provisionally accepted. Amid controversy in France over the proposed takeover of strategic domestic interest by a foreign company, GE's bid was modified to include joint ventures in power generation and transmission, as well as GE's rail signalling business being sold to Alstom. The acquisition of the power and grid division by GE was accepted by EU and US competition authorities in 2015, subject to Alstom's heavy gas turbine business being sold to Ansaldo Energia. The sale of Alstom's power generation and transmission businesses to GE was finalised on 2 November 2015, since then, the Alstom Group has been operating solely in the rail sector. In late-2017, Alstom announced a proposed merger with Siemens Mobility of Germany. However, in February 2019, the European Commission prohibited the merger. Subsequently, in February 2020, the company signed a letter of agreement to purchase
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
. The purchase was finalized on 29 January 2021 and Bombardier's Transportation business became a part of Alstom.


History


Alsthom (1928–1989)

Alsthom was founded in 1928 from the merger of French heavy engineering interests of the Thomson-Houston Electric Company (then part of General Electric) – the ''Compagnie française pour l'exploitation des procédés Thomson Houston'' (or Compagnie Française Thomson Houston, CFTH) and Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques, with the first factory in Belfort. In 1932, Alsthom expanded into transportation by acquiring Constructions Electriques de France, Tarbes, a manufacturer of electric locomotives as well as electrical and hydraulic equipment. In 1969, Compagnie Générale d'Electricité (CGE) became the majority shareholder of Alsthom. In 1976, Alsthom merged with
Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire river and ...
, becoming Alsthom Atlantique. Thus, the business expanded into marine. The next year, it constructed the first 1300 MW generator set for the Paluel Nuclear Power Plant, setting a world record with an output of 1500 MW. In 1978, Alsthom delivered its first TGV to
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
. The TGV went on to break world rail speed records in 1981 (at ) and in 1990 (at ). It also set the world endurance record for high-speed train lines in 2001, travelling the from
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
to Marseille in 3 hours and 29 minutes. In 1986, Alsthom Belfort received an order from EDF for the largest gas turbine in the world (212 MW). In 1988–89, holding company CGEE Alsthom acquired ACEC Energie (hydroturbines and electrical equipment for the nuclear industry) and ACEC Automatisme (automation) from the dissolution of Belgian electrical engineering company ACEC. Alsthom acquired 100% of ACEC's transport division, renaming it ''ACEC Transport''.


GEC Alsthom (1989–1998)

In early 1989, GEC Alsthom was formed from a 50–50 merger of Alsthom and the Power Systems Division of the British
General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was founded in 1886, was Britain's largest private employer with over 250 ...
; for Alsthom this move was intended to allow Alsthom to more successfully sell its products to export customers outside the French market.
International Directory of Company Histories International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...
(1994)
In May of that year, British rail vehicle manufacturer Metro-Cammell was acquired. During the early 1990s, GEC Alsthom was the principal manufacturer of the British Rail Class 373, a variant of their TGV family specially designed for traversing the
Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...
between the UK and France. Although collectively operated by Eurostar, the type was ordered by three different railway companies: 16 by
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
, four by NMBS/SNCB, and 18 by
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
, of which seven were shortened ''North of London'' sets. The first Class 373 set was completed at GEC Alstom's Belfort facility during 1992. In 1994, GEC Alsthom acquired a 51% shareholding in Linke-Hofmann-Busch from Salzgitter AG. In 1995, the company acquired the remaining shares in the steam turbine manufacturer
MAN Energie A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome, X chromosome from the mother and a Y c ...
. In early 1998, GEC Alsthom acquired the electrical contractor Cegelec, renaming it ''Alstom Power Conversion''. In 1998, GEC Alsthom bought Italian firm SASIB's rail signalling subsidiary ''Sasib Railways'', which included the former General Railway Signal (USA). In June 1998, GEC Alsthom was listed on the
Paris Stock Exchange Euronext Paris is France's securities market, formerly known as the Paris Bourse, which merged with the Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Brussels exchanges in September 2000 to form Euronext NV. As of 2022, the 795 companies listed had a combined market ...
; both GEC and Alcatel elected to sell off part of their stakes (23.6% each). Around this time, the company was officially renamed ''Alstom''. Retained by Alstom, the former Metro-Cammell works in Washwood Heath were closed in 2005.Alstom withdraws from train assembly in British ''
International Railway Journal The ''International Railway Journal'' (IRJ) is a monthly international trade magazine published by Simmons-Boardman Publishing in Falmouth, England. History Founded by Robert Lewis and ''Railway Age'' editor Luther Miller as the world's first ...
'' July 2003 page 4


Alstom (1999–2014)

In 1999, Alstom bought half of ABB's power systems division, forming a 50-50 joint company known as ABB Alstom Power. Alstom also bought Canada's Télécité, a passenger information and security solutions company, and sold its heavy-duty gas turbine business to General Electric. The next year, it bought out ABB's share in ABB Alstom Power. In 2000, Alstom sold its diesel engine businesses (
Ruston Ruston may refer to: Place names ;United States * Ruston, Louisiana * Ruston, Washington ;United Kingdom * East Ruston, Norfolk, England * Ruston, North Yorkshire, England * Ruston Parva, East Riding of Yorkshire, England Companies * Ruston (engi ...
, Paxman, and Mirrlees Blackstone) to MAN Group. It also acquired a 51% stake in Italian rail manufacturer
Fiat Ferroviaria Alstom Ferroviaria S.p.A., former Fiat Ferroviaria S.p.A., is the Italian division of Alstom. Fiat Ferroviaria S.p.A. was the rail division of automobile manufacturer Fiat. It was founded in 1880 as Società Nazionale Officine di Savigliano.
, a world leader in tilting technology. In April 2003, Alstom sold its industrial turbine business to
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
for €1.1 billion. By 2003, Alstom was facing a financial crisis caused by a mix of poor sales and over $5 billion of debt liabilities; it reportedly had the potential to force the company's liquidation. These heavy debts were largely due to a $4 billion charge over a design flaw in a turbine developed by ABB Group, acquired by Alstom in 2000, as well as the collapse of customer Renaissance Cruises amid a general downturn in the marine market. Alstom's share price had dropped by 90% over two years. European competition commission law required Alstom to sell several of its subsidiaries, including its shipbuilding and electrical transmission assets, when it accepted a €3.2 billion rescue plan involving the French state. In 2004, the French state took a 21% stake in Alstom for €772 million and Alstom received an EU-approved bailout worth in total €2.5 billion. The company sold its electrical transmission and distribution ("grid") activities to
Areva Areva S.A. is a French multinational group specializing in nuclear power headquartered in Courbevoie, France. Before its 2016 corporate restructuring, Areva was majority-owned by the French state through the French Alternative Energies and Atom ...
, the diesel locomotive manufacturer Meinfesa to Vossloh, and Alstom Power Rentals to APR LLC. That same year, Alstom delivered the four Mermaid propulsion units, each capable of providing up to 21.5 MW of power, to shipping company Cunard to power '' Queen Mary 2'', the world's largest
ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...
. In 2005, the former Metro-Cammell rail vehicle works in Washwood Heath, closed. In 2006, Alstom sold its Marine Division to the Norwegian group
Aker Yards Aker may refer to: Places * Aker, Norway, a geographic area in Oslo and a former municipality in Norway * Vestre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Nordre Aker, a district of Oslo within former Aker municipality * Aker Br ...
, with a commitment to retain 25% of the shares until 2010; it also sold Alstom Power Conversion, which became Converteam, in a leveraged buy-out deal funded by Barclays Private Equity France SAS. In June 2006,
Bouygues Bouygues S.A. () is a French industrial group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on the Euronext, Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip (stock market), blue chip in the C ...
acquired the French government's 21% holding in Alstom for €2 billion. Later that same year, Bouygues elected to increase its shareholding in the firm to 24%. In 2007, the TGV POS set the world speed record for rail vehicles of . In March, Alstom acquired ''Power Systems Manufacturing LLC'' ( Florida, USA) a manufacturer of gas turbine components from Calpine Corporation for $242 million. In June, Alstom acquired the Spanish wind turbine manufacturer Ecotècnia, renamed as
Alstom Ecotècnia GE Offshore Wind is a joint venture with Alstom and a subsidiary of GE Renewable Energy, created in 2015 when most of that company's other electrical power and generation assets were acquired. GE's stake in the joint venture is 50 % plus 1 share ...
(since 2010
Alstom Wind GE Offshore Wind is a joint venture with Alstom and a subsidiary of GE Renewable Energy, created in 2015 when most of that company's other electrical power and generation assets were acquired. GE's stake in the joint venture is 50 % plus 1 share ...
). The company also adopted a new graphic chart (logo, corporate identity) using "alstom" as its trading name, reserving "Alstom SA" for legal documents. In 2009, Alstom acquired 25% of Russia's Transmashholding. In 2010, Alstom re-acquired the
electric power transmission Electric power transmission is the bulk movement of electrical energy from a generating site, such as a power plant, to an electrical substation. The interconnected lines that facilitate this movement form a ''transmission network''. This is ...
division of Areva SA, which had previously been sold in 2004. In 2011, Alstom and the Iraqi government signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the construction of a new high-speed rail line between Baghdad and Basra. In 2012, Alstom opened construction of factories at Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, Canada (passenger rail vehicles). After a consortium of Alstom (
Alstom Wind GE Offshore Wind is a joint venture with Alstom and a subsidiary of GE Renewable Energy, created in 2015 when most of that company's other electrical power and generation assets were acquired. GE's stake in the joint venture is 50 % plus 1 share ...
), EDF, and
DONG Energy Dong or DONG may refer to: Places * Dong Lake, or East Lake, a lake in China * Dong, Arunachal Pradesh, a village in India * Dong (administrative division) (동 or 洞), a neighborhood division in Korea Persons *Queen Dong (1623–1681), princes ...
was awarded three major French offshore wind farm contracts, the company initiated construction of factories at
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin Cherbourg-en-Cotentin () is a city in the department of Manche, Normandy, northwestern France, established on 1 January 2016.
(turbine blades in association with LM Power, also wind turbine towers) and
Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...
(Nacelles and generators). In 2012, the company forms a joint venture with RusHydro to manufacture hydropower equipment for small and medium power hydropower plants. (up to about 100MW.) In November 2013, Alstom announced it planned to raise €1 to €2 billion through sale of some non-core assets, plus the possible sale of a stake in Alstom Transport, and cut 1,300 jobs. In 2014, Alstom sold its steam auxiliary components activities (air preheaters and gas-gas heaters for thermal power, other industrial heat transfer equipment, and grinding mills) to
Triton Partners Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus'' ...
for €730 million. In November 2014 Alstom was awarded a $429.4 million contract to modernise 85 trains for the Mexico City metro system.


Judicial troubles

Starting in 2009, Alstom's practices are questioned by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), which violated the 1977
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests. The FCPA is applicable world ...
. This American law has extraterritorial scope. At the time, Alstom seemed to cooperate with the proceedings. In 2010, the DOJ opened an investigation into Alstom commercial practices, especially on a 2003 deal in Indonesia worth 118-million dollars. On April 13, 2013, Alstom senior executive
Frédéric Pierucci Frédéric Pierucci, (born 14 January 1968), is a former senior manager for Alstom, accused of corruption by the United States government in 2014. He was arrested and detained in United States, where he was held as an economic hostage. His stor ...
was arrested at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. He was accused of willful blindness of his company's suspected corruption. He was imprisoned in a high security prison facility for 14 months and denied release on bail until the week of Alstom's acquisition by the US conglomerate General Electric. In late-2014, Alstom was fined $772 million by the United States Department of Justice, and admitted guilt (under the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests. The FCPA is applicable world ...
) in relation to bribes paid to obtain contracts in various countries. In mid-2014, Alstom Network UK was charged by the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in relation to corruption offences alleged to have been committed when obtaining transportation contracts in India, Poland and Tunisia, covered under sections 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and
Criminal Law Act 1977 The Criminal Law Act 1977 (c.45) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Most of it only applies to England and Wales. It creates the offence of conspiracy in English law. It also created offences concerned with criminal trespass in p ...
. Further charges were brought in late 2014 by the SFO in relation to corrupt practices used to obtain energy contracts in Lithuania. Additional charges relating to contracts for the Budapest Metro in Hungary were added in April 2015.


Sell-off to General Electric

On 24 April 2014, unconfirmed reports claimed that US conglomerate General Electric (GE) was in acquisition talks with Alstom for $13 billion with the support of 29%-shareholder Bouygues, causing Alstom's share price to rise 18% in one day. On 27 April, Le Figaro reported that a rival 'cash plus asset swap' offer was issued by
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
, trading Alstom's power business for part of its rail arm, plus a cash offer as good as GE's and job guarantees. Siemens' bid was reportedly promoted by French economic minister Arnaud Montebourg. Siemens and Alstom had a greater product overlap and thus a greater risk to jobs, along with potential issues with EU competition regulators. Siemens' offer was characterised as "defensive", being skeptically received by investors and analysts. On 29 April, Reuters reported that Alstom's board had accepted a €10 billion bid by GE for its energy division; In a letter from GE executive Jeffrey R. Immelt to President
François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...
published in ''Les Echos'', Immelt gave assurances about continued investment in Alstom's French activities, the security of the civil nuclear sector, and on job commitments made by
Alstom Wind GE Offshore Wind is a joint venture with Alstom and a subsidiary of GE Renewable Energy, created in 2015 when most of that company's other electrical power and generation assets were acquired. GE's stake in the joint venture is 50 % plus 1 share ...
, whilst making its wind activities available to investors. On 30 April, Alstom confirmed that an offer for its power and grid divisions (representing an equity value of €12.35 billion, €11.4 billion enterprise value) was under review with key interests including the French state. On 30 April, GE confirmed it had made an $16.9 billion offer, comprising a $13.5 billion value plus $3.4 billion cash. On 5 May, GE offered to buy one-fourth of the shares in Alstom's Indian power and distribution companies – ''Alstom T&D India'' and ''Alstom India'' – at 261.25 and 382.20 rupees a share (value US$278 million and $111 million respectively) subject to its bid for Alstom SA being successful. On 5 May 2014, the French government stated it did not back GE's bid, citing concerns on the future of Alstom's rail division as a smaller separate entity, suggesting that GE transfer its own rail division to Alstom; other concerns were over the civil nuclear field's national independence, and French jobs. On 14 May, France issued a decree (''Décret n° 2014-479 du 14 mai 2014''.), nicknamed "''décret Alstom''", extending to power of the state to veto the takeover of "strategic interests" into areas of energy supply, water, transport, telecoms and public health. Both the French employer organisation MEDEF and the European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services (
Michel Barnier Michel Barnier (born 9 January 1951) is a French politician who served as the European Commission's Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom (UK Task Force/UKTF) from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as Chief Negotiator, Task ...
) responded negatively to the decree. On 16 June, Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) submitted a competing offer for Siemens to acquire Alstom's gas turbine activities for €3.9 billion while MHI would form joint ventures with Alstom, acquiring 40%, 20% and 20% stakes in Alstom's steam and nuclear, electrical grid, and
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
businesses respectively, for €3.1 billion. The proposal included an offer to buy a further 10% stake from shareholder
Bouygues Bouygues S.A. () is a French industrial group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on the Euronext, Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip (stock market), blue chip in the C ...
and an option to form a rail transport joint venture. On 19 June, GE revised its bid, matching the same price with a lower cash transaction value; it also proposed forming a joint venture of their renewable, electric grid, steam turbine and nuclear power businesses. GE announced a memorandum of understanding between the two firms in the rail sector and the sale of GE's rail signalling unit to Alstom. On 20 June, Siemens and MHI modified their bid, with MHI increasing its stake in Alstom's steam, hydro, and grid businesses to 40% in all three (total €3.9 billion) while Siemens increased its offer by €400 million to €4.3 billion. Subsequently, Economy minister Arnaud Montebourg stated he would block both bids, but the French government backed GE's offer and had given GE more specifications on commitments and guarantees; it also intended to buy two-thirds of Bouygues' shareholding (20%). The next day, Alstom's board backed GE's revised bid. On 22 June, the French state agreed terms with Bouygues, buying a 20% stake in Alstom from Bouygues at a 2–5% discount on a minimum value of ≈€35 per share. Initially, the acquisition was expected to be finalised by early 2015. In early 2015, the EU Competition Commission began examining the deal. Both EU and US competition regulators approved the deal by September 2015, subject to the divestiture of Alstom's large and very large gas turbine (GT26 and GT36 models) manufacturing and service business; and its GE7FA gas turbine aftermarket parts subsidiary business, ''Power Systems Mfg. LLC'' (PSM), to another company, Ansaldo Energia. The sale of Alstrom's energy division to GE was finalised on 2 November 2015; the final valuation being €12.4 billion, of which €9.7 billion was transferred to Alstom, the remainder being reinvested in GE/Alstom joint ventures plus other corrections. The acquired businesses were reorganised within GE's existing power generation business (''GE Power & Water'') as GE Power. The remainder of Alstom Group, including GE Signalling (acquired via a €700 million deal), refocused on rail transport. Due to the acquisition, GE accrued $17.3bn of goodwill, consisting of Alstom's negative book value of $7.2bn at the time of acquisition and the $10.1bn purchase price. In October 2018, GE wrote-off $23bn from the value of its power industry division, largely attributed to the Alstom purchase.


November 2015–present

In November 2015, Alstom was awarded a contract by the Indian Railways to construct an electric locomotive factory in Madhepura ( Bihar), receiving an initial order of 800 twin-section 9MW locomotives for use on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, valued at ₹190 billion (about US$2.9 billion). This factory was to be operated under a joint venture with the Ministry of Railways (26%) at a cost of ₹ 13 billion (roughly US$200 million). During 2015, Alstom decided to increase its shareholding in Russian locomotive manufacturer Transmashholding, its stake rising from 25% to 33%, at a reported cost of €54 million. It has originally acquired its 25% stake in Transmashholding during early 2010. As a consequence of an alignment agreement between Transmashholding and another entity, LocoTech-Service, Alstom's stake in the former decreased to 20% in August 2018. In September 2015, it was announced that Amtrak would award Alstom a contract for $2.5 billion for the next generation high-speed train sets for the
Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...
. This would result in the creation of 750 jobs across upstate New York with 400 direct manufacturing jobs at Alstom. The order for 28 trains was officially confirmed in August 2016 by Amtrak. These trainsets are manufactured at Alstom's plant in
Hornell, New York Hornell is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Steuben County, New York, Steuben County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 8,259 at the 2020 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early set ...
. In March 2016, a joint venture of Alstom and
Gibela Gibela is a joint French–South African railway rolling stock manufacturer. It is majority owned by Alstom, which controls 70% of the company and African companies Ubumbano Rail has 30% stakes. Gibela was announced as the preferred bidder f ...
began construction of a new train building factory in Dunnotar, outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. Initial orders for the factory included 580 X'Trapolis Mega passenger trains for Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa under a €4 billion contract that was awarded in 2013. In September 2016, Alstom announced it was to cease locomotive manufacturing at its Belfort (France) site by 2018 due to low orders; remaining production activity was to be transferred to its facility of
Alstom DDF Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
in Reichshoffen, Alsace. However, during October 2016, the French state placed an order of about €650 million for 15 TGV Euroduplex trains; an order for 20 locomotives; plus an order for 30 intercity trains to be built at Reichshoffen. Together, these orders were sufficient to prevent the Belfort plant's closure in the short to medium term. In June 2017, Alstom opened the largest train modernisation facility in the UK at Halebank on the outskirts of Liverpool. Initial work involved the repainting of the Class 390 ''Pendolino''s. In December 2018, three executives of Alstom were found guilty of conspiracy to corrupt following an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into allegations of several
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
n politicians and officials being offered bribes in return for securing contracts.


Attempted merger with Siemens Mobility

On 26 September 2017, Alstom announced a proposal to merge with Siemens Mobility, the rolling stock division of German conglomerate
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
; this merger was promoted as the creation of "a new European champion in the rail industry". The combined rail business, which was to have been reportedly named ''Siemens Alstom'' and headquartered in Paris, would have $18 billion U.S. in revenue and employ 62,300 people in more than 60 countries. During November 2018, the European Commission voiced its concerns surrounding the proposed merger of the two companies, particularly that the combined entity would be too dominant in the European market; alleged impacts from such dominance included potential increases in passenger fares and cargo fees. Furthermore, a series of popular protests concerning the financial reforms of both the French territorial railway infrastructure and
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
occurred. The proposed merger was viewed by some as a measure to counter the rise of rival Chinese rail business CRRC; it reportedly received support from many figures within both the French and German governments. The transaction, which was originally due to close by the end of 2018, was met with opposition by French trade union officials who voiced their concerns that such a merger would have the potential for job losses. On 17 July 2018, Alstom shareholders overwhelmingly approved the proposed merger with Siemens. On 6 February 2019, the planned merger between the two companies was vetoed by the European Commission. In response to this ruling, Alstom's Chief Executive Officer Henri Poupart-Lafarge stating that he viewed the decision to block the merger to have been a result of "ideological prejudices".


United Nations List

In February 2020, the United Nations published a database of all business enterprises involved in certain specified activities related to the
Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
s. Alstom has been listed on the database in light of its involvement in activities related to "the provision of services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements" and "the use of natural resources, in particular water and land, for business purposes". On 5 July 2021, Norway's largest pension fund KLP said it would divest from Alstom together with 15 other business entities implicated in the UN report for their links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.


Acquisition of Bombardier Transportation

In mid-February 2020, Alstom announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Agreement to buy
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
, the multinational train maker headquartered in Berlin, Germany for between €5.8 billion and €6.2 billion. The deal required the approval by Alstom shareholders at a meeting to be held in October 2020 and approval by European regulators. Bombardier's major shareholder,
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ; ) is an institutional investor that manages several public and parapublic pension plans and insurance programs in Quebec. CDPQ was founded in 1965 by an act of the National Assembly, under the go ...
, had already agreed to the sale. In July 2020, it was announced that the EU competition authorities have approved the purchase deal. In order to finish the deal, Alstom will need to sell the
Alstom DDF Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
factory based in France, a regional train division, a Bombardier facility in Germany, and a Bombardier trains division. Apart from that, the company will also need to carry out different guarantees and pass on some of Bombardier's assets.


Job Action

In May 2022, workers at Alstom's depots in East Ham and Shoeburyness in the UK voted to take industrial action over a 2.5% pay rise at the company, arguing that this was well below the 10% pay rise that their managers received. Workers reported 'low morale and very high levels of sickness related to an alleged "bullying culture" at the company'.


Transport

Alstom Transport develops and markets a complete range of systems, equipment, and service in the railway industry. The division had annual sales of €5.5 billion in 2013. It is one of the world's largest manufacturers of high-speed trains, tramways and metros, electrical and diesel trains, information systems, traction systems, power supply systems, and track work. The company also operates in the rail infrastructure market, designing, producing, and installing infrastructure for the rail network. These include information solutions, electrification, communication systems, track laying, station utilities, as well as workshops and depots. Maintenance, rebuilding, and renovation services are also provided by the company. Alstom Transport operates in 70 countries and employs 26,000 people. Notable products includes series production of the TGV high-speed trains with over 650 trainsets sold over 25 years, as well as the London Underground 1995 Stock, London Underground 1996 Stock, British Rail Class 390 and AGV. Since a merger with General Railway Signal in 1998, Alstom has been manufacturing railway signaling equipment at a former GRS factory located in a suburb near Rochester, New York. After the merger with GE signaling the manufacturing was transferred to Missouri, and GRS factory kept engineering the GRS legacy products. Since 2002, Alstom has manufactured the Pendolino tilting train, following the acquisition of
Fiat Ferroviaria Alstom Ferroviaria S.p.A., former Fiat Ferroviaria S.p.A., is the Italian division of Alstom. Fiat Ferroviaria S.p.A. was the rail division of automobile manufacturer Fiat. It was founded in 1880 as Società Nazionale Officine di Savigliano.
. The company also produces Citadis trams; in 2007, over 1,100 Citadis trams were in use by 28 cities including Dublin,
Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
, Barcelona, Melbourne, Rotterdam and Paris. Between 2007 and 2010, the company produced 1,002 R160A New York City subway cars at its manufacturing plant in
Hornell, New York Hornell is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in Steuben County, New York, Steuben County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 8,259 at the 2020 census. The city is named after the Hornell family, early set ...
, while the body shells were built at their Lapa plant, in São Paulo, Brazil. In 2013, Alstom was awarded the contract to supply 168 coaches to Chennai Metro at a cost of . The company also owns the tender for supplying coaches to Kochi Metro. In September 2015, it was announced in Hornell, New York, by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) that Amtrak will be awarding Alstom a contract for $2.45 billion for the next-generation high-speed train sets for the Northeast Corridor. This would result in the creation of 750 jobs across upstate New York with 400 direct manufacturing jobs at Alstom. The new trainsets will be able to reach speeds up to 186 mph and feature active tilting technology. The 28 new train sets are scheduled to enter service by 2023. Next-generation
high-speed train High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...
s under development by Alstom are the Avelia family: ETR.675, Avelia Horizon and Avelia Liberty. Ottawa LRT cars Alstom Citadis Spirit are manufactured in Hornell, but assembly completed in Ottawa, Ontario, and Brampton, Ontario.


List of rolling stock manufactured by Alstom

EMU and DMU * AGV * Alstom Coradia * Bay Area Rapid Transit C1 Series * British Rail Class 175 *
British Rail Class 180 The British Rail Class 180 is a class of 14 diesel-hydraulic multiple-unit passenger trains manufactured by Alstom at its Washwood Heath factory in 2000/01 for First Great Western (FGW) . They are part of the Coradia 1000 family, along with the ...
* British Rail Class 334 * British Rail Class 390 * British Rail Class 458 (and
460 __NOTOC__ Year 460 ( CDLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magnus and Apollonius (or, less frequently, year 1213 ''Ab u ...
) *
Alstom Aventra The Alstom Aventra (sold as the Bombardier Aventra until 2021) is a family of electric multiple unit (EMU) passenger trains produced in the United Kingdom originally by Bombardier Transportation and later by Alstom, as a successor to the Bomb ...
** British Rail Class 345 **
British Rail Class 701 The British Rail Class 701 ''Aventra'' is a class of electric multiple unit passenger train being built for South Western Railway (SWR) by Bombardier Transportation and later Alstom at Derby Litchurch Lane Works. They will enter service on th ...
** British Rail Class 710 ** British Rail Class 720 ** British Rail Class 730 * New Pendolino * TGV trains: ** Euroduplex ** SNCF TGV Duplex ** SNCF TGV Sud-Est ** SNCF TGV Atlantique **
SNCF TGV Reseau The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
** SNCF TGV POS ** TGV TMST ** Renfe S100/101 ** TGV-K ** Thalys PBKA ** Thalys PBA * IÉ 2700 Class (and 2750) * IÉ 8200 Class * X3 (train) * SL X60 * SJ X40 * X61 (railcar) * Z-TER *
X'Trapolis The X'Trapolis (also stylized as X'TRAPOLIS) is a series of multiple units designed and built by Alstom. The trains have high floors, and are available in both single- and double-deck configurations. They are typically powered by an external electr ...
* Avelia Horizon * Avelia Liberty *
Acela Express (trainset) The first-generation Acela Express trainset is a unique set of vehicles used on the ''Acela'', Amtrak's flagship High-speed rail#Americas, high-speed service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States. When they debuted ...
(partial, joint venture with
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
) Locomotives * Alstom Prima * Alstom Traxx *
GA DE900 locomotives The GA DE900 is a family of 4 axle Bo'Bo' diesel electric locomotives manufactured in Spain, by Meinfesa. The class derive from the RENFE Class 311 type locomotive developed by MTM, Ateinsa and Babcock & Wilcox. Operators Switzerland 40 loco ...
* PL42AC locomotives * SBB-CFF-FFS Am 841 * Indian locomotive class WAG-12 * NS Class 1100 * NS Class 1300 * NS Class 1600 * NS Class 1700 * NS Class 2400 Metro/Subway * London Underground 1995 Stock * London Underground 1996 Stock * Alstom Metropolis *
NYC Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
: ** R68 (partial, joint venture with Westinghouse, ANF Industrie, and Jeumont Schneider) ** R160A * Washington Metro 6000-series * Montreal Metro MPM-10 (partial, joint venture with
Bombardier Transportation Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
) * Alstom Movia Light Rail/Trams *
Alstom Citadis The Alstom Citadis is a family of low-floor trams and light rail vehicles built by Alstom. , over 2,300 Citadis trams have been sold and 1,800 tramways are in revenue service throughout the world, with operations in all six inhabited continents ...
* Alstom Flexity *
Alstom Innovia Innovia is a product line of fully automated and driverless transportation systems offered by Alstom. Originally Innovia only referred to the automated people mover technology acquired from Adtranz in 2001. Innovia now refers to the following autom ...
– fully automated transportation systems ** Innovia APM ** Innovia Metro ** Innovia Monorail Passenger Coaches * Bombardier BiLevel Coach *
Surfliner (railcar) The Surfliner is a family of bi-level intercity railcars derived from the California Car. Like its predecessor, it is derived from the Superliner in design, and operated on Amtrak California's intercity routes in California. They are owned by ...
* Comet V *
GEC Alstom Push-Pull Coach GEC or Gec may refer to: Education * Gedo Education Committee, in Somalia * Glen Eira College, in Caulfield East, Victoria, Australia * Goa Engineering College, India * Government Engineering College (disambiguation) * Guild for Exceptional ...
*
Bombardier MultiLevel Coach The Bombardier MultiLevel Coach is a bi-level passenger rail car manufactured by Bombardier for use on commuter rail lines. The first units were delivered in 2006 and deliveries (in various orders) continued to 2014. Overview There are 643 o ...


Former businesses


Power generation

Alstom power activities were collectively called Alstom Power Systems and included the design, manufacturing, services, and supply of products and systems for the power generation sector and industrial markets. The group covered most energy sources, including gas, coal, nuclear, hydro, wind. Power Systems provided components for power generation including boilers, steam turbines, and gas turbines, wind turbines, generators, air quality control systems, and monitoring and control systems for power plants, as well as related products. It had a special focus on boilers and emissions control equipment. Power Systems also provided services such as product retrofitting for nuclear and fossil steam turbines and refurbishment of existing power plants. It performed maintenance and servicing under long-term agreements for its own turbines, as well as those manufactured by GE and Siemens. In Russia, the company serviced nuclear equipment under a join agreement with Atomenergomash. In Brazil, Alstom, together with
Bardella Bardella is a surname. Notable people with this surname are: *Jordan Bardella (born 1995), French politician and spokesman of the National Rally Party * Rodolfo José da Silva Bardella (born 1992), Brazilian midfielder footballer See also * B ...
, ran a joint venture called Indústria Metalúrgica e Mecânica da Amazônia to build hydroelectric power plants throughout the Amazon and Latin American regions. In India, Alstom had a joint venture with Bharat Forge to manage power production from start to finish. In 2015, the entire power sector was taken over by General Electric.


Alstom Grid

A third business section based on power transmission was formed on 7 June 2010 with the acquisition of the transmission business of Areva SA. The division manufactures equipment for the entire chain of electrical power transmission, including ultra-high voltage transmission lines (both AC and DC). Alstom Grid is headquartered at
La Défense La Défense () is a major business district in France, located west of the city limits of Paris. It is part of the Paris metropolitan area in the Île-de-France region, located in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in the communes of Courbevoie, ...
, the business district west of Paris, and has four main businesses: electrical transmission system products, power electric system, automation, and service. Alstom Grid has roughly 10% of the global market share. In 2015, the grid division was taken over by General Electric and renamed as ''GE Grid Solutions''.


Financial information

Alstom was listed on the London, New York and Paris Stock Exchanges when it was floated on 22 June 1998. Following the financial reconstruction in 2003, the company remained listed on the
Paris Stock Exchange Euronext Paris is France's securities market, formerly known as the Paris Bourse, which merged with the Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Brussels exchanges in September 2000 to form Euronext NV. As of 2022, the 795 companies listed had a combined market ...
, but was delisted from the London Stock Exchange on 17 November 2003 and the New York Stock Exchange in August 2004.


Shareholders

According to a shareholding study carried out in March 2018 the company's shareholding was: * Institutional investors: 65% *
Bouygues Bouygues S.A. () is a French industrial group headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Bouygues is listed on the Euronext, Euronext Paris exchange and is a blue chip (stock market), blue chip in the C ...
: 28% * Individual shareholders: 6% * Employees: 1%


Notes


References


Sources

*


External links

* {{Authority control French companies established in 1928 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1928 CAC 40 Companies listed on Euronext Paris Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Engineering companies of France Rolling stock manufacturers of France Rail infrastructure manufacturers Railway signalling manufacturers Conglomerate companies of France Multinational companies headquartered in France Conglomerate companies established in 1928 French brands Dual-listed companies Electric motor manufacturers