Bombardier Transportation buys Adtranz Pafawag

Canadian passenger rail car and railway equipment producer Bombardier Transportation has had its take-over confirmed of Wroclaw-based Adtranz Pafawag, Poland' s only producer of electric locomotives and electric suburban commuter trains. According to Adtranz officials, the new owner has no plans to lay off workers, and until the official registration is completed all Adtranz' s component companies will operate under their old names. Bombardier bought Adtranz from car manufacturer DaimlerChrysler for an unspecified price at the end of last year, and the purchase has now been given approval under the European Commission' s anti-trust procedures. Bombardier has also taken over Adtranz' s branches in Katowice and Lodz, as well as its Warsaw office. Bombardier Transportation is a part of Bombardier Inc, which apart from railway equipment, specializes in the production of executive jets and short-haul planes. The recent acquisition of Adtranz is a part of the Canadian company' s larger plan to expand its production in the railway sector, which now accounts for 40% of its total sales revenues. (Rzeczpospolita, p.B3) J.K.