Alstom jumps after it agrees to sell North-American unit to Knorr-Bremse

Knorr Bremse AG

22/04/2024 09:00

** Shares in Alstom  ALSO.PA  rise as much as 6.7%, hitting
their highest intraday price since Oct. 4, after it agreed to
sell its North American conventional signalling business to
German rail systems manufacturer Knorr-Bremse  KBX.DE 
    ** The French train maker said on Friday it has entered into
an agreement with Knorr-Bremse to sell its NA rail signalling
technology business for around 630 mln euros ($671.5 mln)
    ** Proceeds for Alstom, net of expected tax and transaction
costs, are expected to reach about 620 mln euros, with closing
expected as soon as summer 2024, it says
    ** Alstom had said in January it aims to reduce its net debt
position by 2 bln euros by March 2025
    ** "We cut our EPS estimates by 2% but the deal marks an
important step in the implementation of the group's €2bn
deleveraging program," says Deutsche Bank
    ** J.P.Morgan says the sale is good news for the shares, and
expects the divestment to have an around 20 bps dilutive effect
on margins
    ** Alstom, up 2.3% by 0755 GMT, is among top performers on
France's SBF 120  .SBF120  and CAC 40  .FCHI  indices
    ** Knorr-Bremse shares gain 3.4%

($1 = 0.9383 euros)

 (Reporting by Clement Martinot)
 ((Clement.martinot@tr.com))