Hitachi-Thales rail deal completed at last

Hitachi Rail has completed its acquisition of Thales' Ground Transportation Systems (GTS) business after a long-drawn-out process of securing regulatory approvals in multiple countries.

The deal, worth €1,660 million (£1.4 billion), gives Hitachi Rail a presence in 51 countries and will mean that the majority of its revenues will come from signalling and systems.

Hitachi says its key locations in Japan, Italy, the UK and the US will be “strategically complemented” by GTS’ large centres in Germany, France, Spain and Canada, with 9,000 GTS staff transferring to the new business.

Although the planned purchase was first announced in August 2021, it was reviewed by no fewer than 13 competition authorities. It finally received European Commission clearance in October 2023, but a condition of securing approval was that Hitachi Rail would divest its mainline signalling business activities in France, Germany and the UK. These have now been sold to Italian railway company Mer Mec.