Train makers CNR and CSR agree to merge
Rolling-stock behemoth in the making after the tie-up of CNR and CSR through a share swap
China CNR Corp and CSR Corp, the world's two largest train makers, have formally agreed to merge into a rolling-stock behemoth.
The move was finalised at the board meetings of the two companies in Beijing in the past two days.
Under the merger plan, CSR would fully acquire CNR through a swap of the Hong Kong and Shanghai shares of the two companies, the state-owned companies announced on the Shanghai Stock Exchange website yesterday.
The new name of the combined entity will be CRRC Corp.
CNR and CSR together command more than 90 per cent of the mainland's rolling-stock market, including the country's multibillion-dollar high-speed train market.
In 2012, CNR was the world's biggest train maker by revenue, followed by CSR, according to a report by SCI Verkehr, a German transport consultancy.
The combined revenue of the two companies was about €21 billion (HK$198.5 billion) in 2012, more than double the revenue of the world's third-biggest train maker, Bombardier Transportation of Canada, according to the consultancy.