Litigation remained the only viable option.
Poland may now have a realistic chance of acquiring Talgo. After the Spanish government kicked the Hungarians out of the business, citing flimsy reasons, the train manufacturing giant can be handed over to the Poles.
The Polish government is conducting negotiations with the Spanish government on the purchase of Talgo, the Polish media reported with reference to the Business Insider Polska newspaper.
Talgo is the Spanish train manufacturing giant whose sale to a Hungarian consortium, the Magyar Vagon group, was rejected by Pedro Sánchez's cabinet citing reasons created by it.
Now, however, it seems that the Spanish will not stand in the way of Polish interest, so the Polish state can steal the business of the century from the Hungarians. At the very least, the Polish government coalition is seriously considering acquiring the company through Pesa (the market leader in Polish rail vehicle production), thereby supporting the development of the Polish high-speed railway.
The megaproject of the Polish government is the Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK), which also requires the production of super trains. Without exaggeration, CPK is a unique Polish and even European idea. A new airport built from scratch would be created about 40 kilometers southwest of Warsaw. I would connect this to the transport network with a brand new high-speed rail infrastructure and highway.
However, no official decision has yet been made on the construction of the CPK. However, a few weeks ago, Talgo and PSA signed a collaboration for the production of the future trains, and this indicates the seriousness of the implementation, because one of the major shortcomings of the project until now was that there was no Polish capacity for the production of super trains. There aren't many of these in the world:
- the French Alstom,
- the German Siemens,
- the Japanese Hitachi
- and the Spanish Talgo.
The solution to the capacity issue is urgent, because the construction of the high-speed railway line connecting Warsaw, Lódz and Boroszló is about to begin in Poland. This is the first section of a total of approximately 2,000 kilometers of new railway line.
The Polish government led by Donald Tusk has now activated itself and is seeking to acquire the Spanish company. According to sources close to the Polish cabinet, Poland has asked for the support of the Spanish government for the deal, and they have even negotiated with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. If the Polish offer wins the sympathy of the Spanish management - this is easily possible - it will be a key moment to convince the shareholders of Talgo, which is listed on the Spanish stock exchange, to sell their papers.
For this, they must promise an irresistible price, if only because Magyar Vagon would have bought Talgo for 620 million euros, which is 5 euros per share.
This was unanimously approved by the management and the shareholders, except that the Spanish government raised a political veto, claiming that there were Russian ties behind the Hungarians.
However, he did not present any evidence of this.
Magyar Vagon was forced to withdraw its offer and immediately announced that it would challenge the Spanish government's decision in all legal forums. Magyar Vagon remained open to the purchase of Talgo, but in the light of recent developments, it is more and more certain that the only thing left is litigation. Poland may now have a realistic chance of acquiring Talgo.
Piotr Malepszak, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, confirmed earlier that the Polish government is actively interested in the acquisition. According to the evaluation of the Polish media, Pesa would be an ideal new owner, especially since its owner, the Polish Development Fund (PFR), has a lot of experience in conducting various investments.
Talgo is considered a promising opportunity in the railway market. In 2023, its revenues exceeded 650 million, and its orders exceeded 4.2 billion euros. The company delivers trains to Germany, Denmark, the USA, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, among others. And the next gigantic order could be Polish, if Poland wins the favor of the Spanish.
Cover image: Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk
Source: MTI/EPA/Olivier Hoslet
