(The following story by John D. Boyd appeared on The Journal of Commerce website on August 23, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rail industry products supplier Wabtec completed its planned acquisition of electronic instrument maker Bach-Simpson from Global Railway Industries for about $13 million.
With annual revenue from Bach-Simpson of about $10 million, Wabtec said it expects the transaction to be accretive in its first year.
Wabtec is based in Wilmerding, Pa., while Bach-Simpson is headquartered in London, Ontario. The acquired unit produces safety-related instrumentation, such as event data recorders and speed indicators, for locomotives and transit cars. Its customers are railroads, transit authorities and original equipment makers of locomotives and transit cars.
This is the latest in a series of deals by Wabtec, which on July 28 finished its purchase of G&B Specialties, also from Quebec’s Global Railway, for about $35 million. G&B makes track and signaling products including track switches, junction boxes and gear equipment, and is based in Berwick, Pa.
In March, Wabtec bought Jacksonville, Fla.-based Xorail’s signal engineering and design operations for $40 million.
Wabtec is one of several U.S. companies looking to expand their reach among rail industry suppliers and then sell not only to North American rail systems but also to those in other regions as well.
This month also saw equipment manufacturing giant Caterpillar wrap up its purchase of Electro-Motive Diesel, one of this continent’s two builders of the largest line of freight locomotives. L.B. Foster, a supplier to the railroad, construction and energy industries, is trying to finish its tender offer for all common shares of Portec Rail Products.