The Spanish government, as confirmed by the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, is exploring alternatives for a counter-bid for Talgo to the one presented by Ganz-Mavag (of the Magyar Vagon group) for 100% of Talgo.
Puente has also discussed the possibility of the government “sponsoring” a Spanish alternative and mentioned that they are “waiting for other players, investors and manufacturers to come into play.”
In this context, Moncloa is sounding out CriteriaCaixa, La Caixa’s holding company, for participation in the Talgo counter-bid.
The Minister reiterated that Talgo is a strategic company with a “technological leg that must be protected”. Despite being the smallest compared to other manufacturers in the country, such as CAF, Stadler or Alstom, Puente emphasised that due to its “historical character, critical technology and Spanish nature, it is a company we must protect”.
Will the government be part of the counter-bid for Talgo?
The possibility of Moncloa taking a stake in Talgo through the Sepi has been floating around for weeks, in the same way, that it took a stake in Telefónica after the Saudi company STC entered as a shareholder. Similarly, Ganz-Mavag and Magyar Vagon have the financial backing of the Corvinus fund, created by Viktor Orbán’s government.
The link between the Hungarian leader and the group that wants to acquire Talgo is total. According to elEconomista, the government has sold 75% of the rolling stock manufacturer MÁV Vagon to Magyar Vagon.
However, the government must find more partners to counter-bid Talgo. In this possible counter-bid for Talgo, at least 5 euros per share should be offered, the price offered by Ganz-Mavag, which values the manufacturer at 619 million euros. In addition, at least one of them should be able to provide industrial fabric to the manufacturer.
The Minister has doubts whether the eight factories the potential buyer has made available to the Spanish manufacturer could cover its production needs. However, he acknowledged that Talgo has a problem with its production capacity and needs a greater contribution to meet its numerous orders on time.
