Eastern Railroad Discussion > GE to sell locomotive division to Wabtec?

General Electric is in discussions to sell its rail business to Wabtec, according to multiple reports Friday.

Shares of Wabtec rose more than 6 percent in trading Friday.

The industrial conglomerate's transportation business is valued at about $7 billion, with GE examining multiple ways to offload the division. CEO John Flannery has been looking to sell or spin-off more than $20 billion in assets since October. The conglomerate most recently announced plans for private equity firm Veritas Capital to acquire a GE health-care unit for $1.05 billion in cash.


Wabtec – an acronymization of Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation – is a manufacturer of locomotives, freight cars and other rail-related products. The company is based in Wilmerding, Pennsylvania.

General Electric and Wabtec did not immediately respond to CNBC requests for comment.

GE stock was up over 5 percent, rising earlier in the day when the company reported better than expected first quarter earnings

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/m/fb054a8e-f6f3-332c-a7b3-8db77805a415/general-electric-reportedly.html

Interesting that any company with the Westinghouse name associated with it may take over the GE locomotive business. I say that given the association those two old US companies had 100 years ago while making electric locomotives.

Wabtec is a latter day juggernaut in the rail biz. They've been snapping up both niche manufacturers and big concerns left and right for years.

Seems like a really good piece of business to be selling off like that.

Ironically, it always works out that way. The good businesses can be sold at a meaningful price. The bad businesses, nobody wants -- but you tend to get stuck with them after you've sold all the good businesses. It's just another kind of death spiral.

Milwaukee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting that any company with the Westinghouse
> name associated with it may take over the GE
> locomotive business. I say that given the
> association those two old US companies had 100
> years ago while making electric locomotives.


Different "Westinghouse". Wabtec is a derivative of the Westinghouse Air Brake Co., i.e. George Westinghouse.

HotWater Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Milwaukee Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Interesting that any company with the
> Westinghouse
> > name associated with it may take over the GE
> > locomotive business. I say that given the
> > association those two old US companies had 100
> > years ago while making electric locomotives.
>
>
> Different "Westinghouse". Wabtec is a derivative
> of the Westinghouse Air Brake Co., i.e. George
> Westinghouse.


Correct. George Westinghouse founded the air brake company.

About a decade later he founded the Westinghouse Electric with different investors.

I don't believe the two companies were ever under common control.

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