Rail supplier news from Koppers, PennTool, Alstom, American Industrial and EdgePoint (Jan. 8)

Koppers Inc. has signed an asset purchase agreement to acquire the crosstie treating business and related manufacturing of Tolko Industries Ltd. The proposed transaction is subject to closing conditions. Koppers officials anticipate the acquisition will close in 30 days, with the purchase price being funded primarily by cash, according to a company press release.

PennTool™ Group, an operating unit of PennEngineering® , has acquired the assets of Precision Industries Inc., PennTool announced yesterday. As a result, PennTool exclusively will handle all existing and new orders for products and technologies previously supplied by Precision Industries. All commercial business operations for Precision Industries ultimately will relocate to PennTool's Michigan facility.

Alstom and its local joint venture Satee have been awarded two contracts worth $102 million to supply new traction equipment for more than 550 trains due to operate on China's Chengdu metro lines 3 and 4, and Xi'an metro line 3 starting in 2015. Alstom and Satee will provide the metros of Chengdu and Xi'an with Optonix, Alstom’s most recently developed traction system that was designed and developed for the Chinese market.

American Industrial Systems Inc.'s (AIS) design for manufacturability and concurrent engineering services now is available for development of new custom locomotive cab computer displays to help optimize freight and commuter railroads' positive train control systems. AIS HMIs are the primary visual interface between the vehicle operator and the cab signal system. It displays mission critical data and information at any given time and often other key indicators are integrated into the display, as well, AIS officials said in a press release.

EdgePoint Capital Advisors named Paul Chameli senior vice president. In his new role, he will manage the execution of merger and acquisition and financing transactions. Chameli has nearly 20 years of diversified financial advisory experience. Previously, he was a member of the corporate development team at Wabtec Corp., where he managed the identification, sourcing and closing of domestic and cross border acquisitions and joint ventures.