French rail giant Alstom confirmed it is in talks about possibly acquiring Bombardier Transportation, which includes its train division.

The company issued a four-line statement early Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported on the weekend the two industry players had reached a deal.

“No final decision has been made,” the France-based company said.

The newspaper reported on Sunday that a tentative deal worth more than US$7 billion had been reached between the two companies.

Bombardier Transportation’s headquarters are based in Germany. Their Quebec operations employ about 1,000 workers at the La Pocatière plant in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, as well as in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, in the southern suburbs of Montreal.

The French rail giant said discussions are ongoing.

“Alstom will inform the public of any material developments in this respect,” it said.

Bombardier has not yet issued a response to the statement from Alstom.

The talks come as Bombardier is exiting the commercial aviation business. The debt-ridden company announced last week it was selling its remaining stake in the A220 jetliner program.

There have been rumours swirling around Bombardier potentially selling one of its two divisions: trains and business jets. If the sale takes place, Bombardier would be left to focus on its private business jets.

Source: Read Full Article