EU antitrust commissioner to block Alstom-Siemens rail merger
The EU competition chief plans to block the planned rail merger between Alstom and Siemens, with the latter’s CEO labelling the decision ‘absolutely naïve’.
The EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager plans to block the planned rail merger between Siemens and Alstom.
Vestager intends to recommend vetoing the deal between the two train manufacturers, despite the pair making several last-minute remedies to appease the competition authorities concerns, according to reports.
Chinese rail giant CRRC left unchallenged
The planned merger had the support of both German and French politicians, with each side expressing discontent with EU’s antitrust regime, arguing that the deal is essential to stopping the world’s largest train manufacturer, Chinese state-owned CRRC, from dominating the European rail.
Over the weekend, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said that ‘nothing can justify’ the merger being blocked, while his German counterpart Peter Altmaier stressed that his government was eager for this deal to go ahead.
‘The international market in this industry is fiercely competitive… we need big players, we need a European champion for that, which can cope with competition from companies in the US and China,’ Altmaier said on Wednesday.
‘That’s why I think this merger makes sense and is the right thing to do,’ he added.
Siemens CEO labels EU decision ‘absolutely naïve’
Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser admitted that the EU competition commissioner’s decision leaves little change of the deal proceeding, labelling the move ‘naïve’ and the antitrust regime in Brussels ‘backward’ during a press conference on Wednesday.
‘It is absolutely naive to believe that individual European states can actually stand by themselves against competition from China, America, even India at some point — that’s impossible,’ Kaeser said.
‘If we truly want to be global players, we need a common European foreign economic policy. That is crucial,’ he added.
This information has been prepared by IG, a trading name of IG Markets Limited. In addition to the disclaimer below, the material on this page does not contain a record of our trading prices, or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instrument. IG accepts no responsibility for any use that may be made of these comments and for any consequences that result. No representation or warranty is given as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. Consequently any person acting on it does so entirely at their own risk. Any research provided does not have regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation and needs of any specific person who may receive it. It has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such is considered to be a marketing communication. Although we are not specifically constrained from dealing ahead of our recommendations we do not seek to take advantage of them before they are provided to our clients. See full non-independent research disclaimer and quarterly summary.
See your opportunity?
Seize it now. Trade over 17,000+ markets on our award-winning platform, with low spreads on indices, shares, commodities and more.
Live prices on most popular markets
- Equities
- Indices
- Forex
- Commodities
Prices above are subject to our website terms and agreements. Prices are indicative only. All share prices are delayed by at least 15 minutes.
Prices above are subject to our website terms and agreements. Prices are indicative only. All shares prices are delayed by at least 15 mins.
