HUNGARIAN group, Ganz-Mavag Europe, has informed Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) that it intends to present a public offer to acquire 100% of the shares of Spanish rolling stock manufacturer, Talgo.
Ganz-Mavag Europe is proposing an offer worth approximately €5 a share, or €619m in total. Shares were trading at €4.25 on March 8.
Ganz Mavag Europe is a consortium of Hungarian rolling stock manufacturer and maintainer, Ganz-Mavag, itself owned by Magyar Vagon Befektetési Vagyonkezelő, and Hungarian public investment fund Corvinus. News of its intention to buy Talgo first circulated in November, prompting the share price of the Spanish rolling stock manufacturer to soar.
According to a notification from Talgo CEO, Mr Gonzalo Urquijo Fernández de Araoz, made public on CNMV’s website on March 7, Talgo’s board of directors have unanimously confirmed that the offer is “friendly” and that it is attractive for shareholders. It is also expressing a preliminary favourable view on the price offered. Pegaso Transportation International, a significant shareholder in Talgo, has told the board of its intention to accept the offer for its entire shareholding in the company.
In a press statement, Talgo says it is waiting to analyse in detail the takeover bid and it will judge the proposal on four key factors:
preserving employment and industrial capacity in Spain
ensuring that Talgo’s head office and senior management team remain based in Spain
maintaining ownership of Talgo’s intellectual property and patents, and
achieving the best option for all shareholders and other interest groups.
The Spanish government has expressed reservations about the proposed takeover. The Ministry of Economy says it will be “vigilant regarding this operation” given Talgo’s importance in a “strategic sector with a fundamental role in rail transport” Spain’s minister of transport, Mr Oscar Puente, has previously said that he will “do everything possible” to prevent the takeover.
According to several media reports, the Spanish government is concerned about alleged ties between Ganz-Mavag and the administration of Hungary’s prime minister, Mr Viktor Orban, who is considered an ally of Russian president, Mr Vladimir Putin.
Magyar Vagon acquired the 50% stake held by Russia’s Transmashholding in the Dunakeszi Jarmujavito plant in Hungary in 2022, assuming responsibility for delivery of 646 coaches for Egyptian National Railways (ENR) from the plant under a contract Transmashholding won in 2018. The Russian supplier exited the deal following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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