The train manufacturer Pesa, controlled by the Polish State, has hired the French bank Société Générale to launch a Public Acquisition Offer (OPA) of shares in Talgo, despite the fact that this operation would once again be opposed by the Government, which already vetoed a similar offer from Hungary, according to Europa Press.
Sources close to the Government insist that the offer from the Basque company Sidenor provides the best solution for Talgo, since it meets the two requirements raised: it is an industrialist capable of increasing its capacity to carry out all the orders it has and maintains the taking of decisions in Spain.
According to the information provided by ‘El Confidencial’, Société Générale would have offered to contribute to the Polish state fund PFR, which controls Pesa, the financing necessary to launch the takeover bid and also refinance Talgo’s own debt.
However, the operation would have to pass the approval of the Government, which fears that a company as strategic for the country as Talgo will end up in foreign hands that will make key decisions for a priority sector such as citizen mobility, according to what they point out. sources, who call this potential situation “dangerous” for the country.
The Government, which wants to find a solution before the end of January, has only opened the door for foreign companies to enter Talgo on a minority basis, in such a way as to prevent decision-making from leaving Spain.
In fact, the Polish press alludes to the advantages for Poland that this purchase or merger would have for its country, among them accelerating the development of high speed trains (Pesa does not manufacture high speed trains and Talgo does) or facilitating the crossing of trains by the border with Ukraine, something that allows Talgo technology to change the track gauge.
However, the priority of the Spanish Government is to ensure the continuity of a historic company for the country, and it is trying to find a way that this does not impede the legitimate right of its main shareholder, the English fund Trilantic, to obtain the greatest possible benefit from their actions.
In this sense, Sidenor’s offer reaches 4 euros per share, higher than the 3.6 euros at which it is currently listed, but much lower than the 5 euros offered by the Hungarians, which is complicating the negotiations.
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