Supplier Spotlight (March 2008)

M&A

• The Greenbrier Cos. signed an agreement to acquire substantially all of the operating assets of American Allied Railway Equipment Co. and its subsidiaries for $83 million cash.
• New York Air Brake Corp. acquired the assets and business of Klasing Hand Brake Co., adding freight-car hand brakes to the company’s product line.
• European rail logistics firm VTG Aktiengesellschaft has acquired Texas Railcar Leasing Co. (TRLX). Citi Capital Strategies served as the exclusive financial advisor to TRLX.

Product lines

• ERICO^® introduced a range of track care products designed to improve track performance and lower maintenance costs.
• Behlman Electronics Inc. introduced the Behlman SQ300 Square Wave Inverter, a 300 VA inverter that supplies 120 VAC from a 12 VDC source to power railroad signal equipment.

Distribution services

• Sensor Products Inc. has been named a U.S. distributor for Lenord + Bauer, which supplies motion sensors to most major rail vehicle manufacturers.

Mechanical

• FreightCar America Inc. and Titagarh Wagons Ltd. entered into a joint venture to develop freight cars for the Indian rail market.
• Alstom Transport unveiled a prototype of the AGV, the company’s next-generation very high-speed train designed to reach cruising speeds of 225 mph. Italian railway Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori has ordered 25 of the trains.

C&S

• An Alstom-led consortium including Ansaldo STS subsidiary Ansaldo Segnalamento Ferroviario won a $26.7 million contract to provide signaling and command/control systems for Tunisian national railway SNCFT.
• RailAmerica Inc. subsidiary Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad installed four of Global Rail Systems Inc.’s FAS-PAS systems at two passing sidings along a route that handles large coal consists.
• RailComm Inc. obtained a contract to provide its Domain Operations Controller (DOC®) train-control system for Virginia’s Commonwealth Railway.

Line construction

• Simmons Machine Tool Corp. obtained a contract to provide a fully automated railway axle roughing line in Paragould, Ark., for AXIS L.L.C., a joint venture comprising Amsted Industries, American Railcar Industries Inc. and other entities.

Partnership

• Amsted Rail and European Bearing Corp. signed an agreement to establish a Russian Federation joint venture to assemble, produce and distribute cartridge tapered roller bearings for the Commonwealth of Independent States rail market.