LAKE OSWEGO, Oregon,
May 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE: GBX) and Astra Rail Management
GmbH today announced that the companies' planned merger to create
Greenbrier-Astra Rail has received all required regulatory
approvals from relevant European antitrust officials. The
transaction will be completed on June 1,
2017 and combines the operations of Greenbrier Europe and
Astra Rail to create an end-to-end,
Europe-based freight railcar
manufacturing, engineering and repair business.
With principal operations in Poland and Romania and headquarters in the Netherlands, Greenbrier-Astra Rail will
have nearly 4,000 employees and 6 production facilities across
Europe.
About Greenbrier
Greenbrier (www.gbrx.com), headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon, is a leading
international supplier of equipment and services to freight rail
transportation markets. Greenbrier designs, builds and markets
freight railcars in North America,
Latin America and Europe. We
also build and market marine barges in North America. We
manufacture freight railcars in Brazil through a strategic partnership in
which we hold a majority interest and produce rail castings through
a separate Brazilian partnership. In October
2016, we entered into an agreement with Astra Rail
Management GmbH to form a new company, Greenbrier-Astra Rail, which
will create an end-to-end, Europe-based freight railcar manufacturing,
engineering and repair business. We expect this combination to be
completed on June 1, 2017. Through
our European manufacturing operations, we deliver U.S.-designed
tank cars to Saudi Arabia. We are
a leading provider of wheel services, parts, leasing and other
services to the railroad and related transportation industries in
North America and a supplier of
freight railcar repair, refurbishment and retrofitting services in
North America through a joint
venture partnership with Watco Companies, LLC. Through other joint
ventures, we produce rail castings, tank heads and other railcar
components. Greenbrier owns a lease fleet of over 8,000 railcars
and performs management services for over 266,000 railcars.
About Astra Rail
In 1998, Thomas Manns, at the
young age of 21, stepped in to run his family's business of
commercial vehicle rentals upon the death of his father. He built
that company into a major force in Western and Eastern European
markets. After selling the business in 2008, Mr. Manns
entered the real estate business in Eastern Europe and Germany. In 2012, he purchased
Astra Rail properties and together
with Mr. Bernd Böse, who runs the
operative business of Astra Rail,
built the multi-plant business into a highly profitable operation
with three manufacturing, engineering and repair factories in Arad,
Severin and Caracal, Romania over
the course of a few short years.
"SAFE HARBOR" STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION
REFORM ACT OF 1995: This press release may contain
forward-looking statements, including any statements that are not
purely statements of historical fact. Greenbrier uses words
such as "anticipates," "believes," "forecast," "potential," "goal,"
"contemplates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "hopes,"
"seeks," "estimates," "strategy," "could," "would," "should,"
"likely," "will," "may," "can," "designed to," "future,"
"foreseeable future" and similar expressions to identify
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements
are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from the results contemplated by the forward-looking
statements. Factors that might cause such a difference
include, but are not limited to, reported backlog and awards that
are not indicative of Greenbrier's financial results; uncertainty
or changes in the credit markets and financial services industry;
high levels of indebtedness and compliance with the terms of
Greenbrier's indebtedness; write-downs of goodwill, intangibles and
other assets in future periods; sufficient availability of
borrowing capacity; fluctuations in demand for newly manufactured
railcars or failure to obtain orders as anticipated in developing
forecasts; loss of one or more significant customers; customer
payment defaults or related issues; policies and priorities of the
federal government regarding international trade and
infrastructure; sovereign risk to contracts, exchange rates or
property rights; actual future costs and the availability of
materials and a trained workforce; failure to design or manufacture
new products or technologies or to achieve certification or market
acceptance of new products or technologies; steel or specialty
component price fluctuations and availability and scrap surcharges;
changes in product mix and the mix between segments; labor
disputes, energy shortages or operating difficulties that might
disrupt manufacturing operations or the flow of cargo; production
difficulties and product delivery delays as a result of, among
other matters, costs or inefficiencies associated with expansion,
start-up, or changing of production lines or changes in production
rates, changing technologies, transfer of production between
facilities or non-performance of alliance partners, subcontractors
or suppliers; ability to obtain suitable contracts for the sale of
leased equipment and risks related to car hire and residual values;
integration of current or future acquisitions and establishment of
joint ventures; succession planning; discovery of defects in
railcars or services resulting in increased warranty costs or
litigation; physical damage or product or service liability claims
that exceed Greenbrier's insurance coverage; train derailments or
other accidents or claims that could subject Greenbrier to legal
claims; actions or inactions by various regulatory agencies
including potential environmental remediation obligations or
changing tank car or other railcar or railroad regulation; and
issues arising from investigations of whistleblower complaints; all
as may be discussed in more detail under the headings "Risk
Factors" and "Forward Looking Statements" in Greenbrier's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2016 and Greenbrier's Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended February 28, 2017, and Greenbrier's other reports
on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers
are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which reflect management's opinions only as of the date
hereof. Except as otherwise required by law, Greenbrier does
not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/greenbrier-europe-and-astra-rail-merger-receives-regulatory-approvals-in-europe-300459764.html
SOURCE The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (GBX)