Global market leader voestalpine acquires railway competence center in Australia

2014-12-16 |

The voestalpine Group continues to extend its global leadership in the railway infrastructure sector and has agreed to acquire the Bathurst Rail Fabrication Center (BRFC) located in Australia. This specialist for high-quality welded rails, turnouts, and track components has a staff of around 60 employees and generated annual revenue of around EUR 34 million last year. With its turnout and rail welding plant, BRFC is the key railway competence center for Sydney Trains which in turn operates a majority of the railway network in the Australian state of New South Wales.

voestalpine VAE Railway Systems Pty Ltd., a subsidiary of voestalpine VAE GmbH, a global leader in turnout technology and part of the Metal Engineering Division at the voestalpine Group, is gaining a specialist business in the railway systems sector with the acquisition of BRFC. voestalpine already has twelve locations in Australia which generated total revenue of around EUR 75 million in the business year 2013/14 and employ around 200 persons. By acquiring BRFC, the voestalpine Group will extend its market position in the turnout and rail technology sector in the world’s seventh largest railway network. The global technology and capital goods Group already generates around 13 percent of Group revenue in this segment. The extended local presence achieved as the result of this acquisition, paired with the voestalpine Group’s highly innovative know-how, offers great potential for future local transport projects in Australia, as well as for the important heavy-load sector.

“BRFC is one of the five largest railway system providers in Australia. This acquisition extends our product and customer portfolio in Australia to include passenger and local traffic, and continues to expand our already excellent market position further. Thanks to the affiliated welding plant, we have opened up additional business opportunities within the voestalpine Group,” explains Franz Kainersdorfer, Member of the Management Board of voestalpine AG and Head of the Metal Engineering Division. The Group is also diversifying its product and customer portfolio with this acquisition in Australia. “As a result we are expanding our product range covering passenger rail traffic, and expect to form new partnerships in the urban infrastructure sector,” says Kainersdorfer.

Metal Engineering Division

The voestalpine Metal Engineering Division is the global market leader in turnout technology and the European market leader in special rails and quality wire. The Division is also a leading provider of seamless tubes and high-quality welding consumables. Customer segments include the railway infrastructure industry, the oil and gas industry, the steel and construction industry, as well as the mechanical engineering and automotive industries. In the business year 2013/14, the division and its Steel, Rail Technology, Wire Technology, Tubulars, Turnout Systems, and Welding Consumables business units generated revenue of more than EUR 2.8 billion, of which around 40% was generated outside of Europe. The division, with its approximately 11,900 employees worldwide, reported an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 435 million.

The voestalpine Group

The voestalpine Group is a steel-based technology and capital goods group that operates worldwide. With around 500 Group companies and locations in more than 50 countries and on all five continents, the Group has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 1995. With its top-quality products, the Group is one of the leading partners to the automotive and consumer goods industries in Europe and to the oil and gas industries worldwide. The voestalpine Group is also the world market leader in turnout technology, special rails, tool steel, and special sections. In the business year 2013/14, the voestalpine Group reported revenue of EUR 11.2 billion and an operating result (EBITDA) of EUR 1.4 billion; it had around 48,100 employees worldwide.