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Spain Tries to Block Hungarian Takeover of Train Manufacturer Talgo

Hungary Today 2024.05.09.

Talgo workers fear that the Spanish government will block the Hungarian takeover deal of the century, while failing to provide an alternative offer. The Spanish government is refusing to respond to the unions representing workers at the Talgo train company, reports Spain’s ABC. The unions are concerned that the arrival of an investor to provide the train manufacturer with more industrial capacity will be delayed.

According to the portal, workers are demanding to know the plans of the relevant ministries for the “rescue” of the company. Mandiner reports that the government is trying to block the takeover option offered by Hungarian Ganz-MaVag at all costs for political reasons.

The government’s aim is to keep Talgo in the hands of its Spanish owner, but workers fear that it will eventually veto the deal without an alternative offer.

The Spanish transport minister claims that the issue is geopolitical. He believes that Talgo has technology that affects the military mobility of the Baltic countries. Meanwhile, he was reportedly also concerned that the Hungarian bidder has “Russian and far-right links” because of its government background, an interpretation which clearly point to the Spanish socialist government’s political motives for opposing the bid.

Fact

MaVag Group member Ganz-MaVag Europe Zrt. has made a voluntary takeover bid for 100 percent of the shares in Spanish “supertrain” manufacturer Talgo, Index reported in early March. The news was confirmed to the portal by the Hungarian company’s chairman of the board, György Bacsa. As he said in March, Talgo’s board of directors considered the offer to be favorable, and the transaction is intended to enable the two companies to further develop the Spanish and Hungarian manufacturing, training, and development together. In early April, it became official that the company had sought approval from the Spanish government for its EUR 619.3 million takeover bid for Talgo. Bloomberg reported at the time that the Spanish government had expressed reservations about the acquisition, citing political reasons.

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Via ABC, Mandiner, Index, Bloomberg; Featured image: Wikipedia


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