Greenbrier Europe and Astra Rail complete merger to form European-based Greenbrier-Astra Rail

On May 22 Tank News International reported that The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. and Astra Holding GmbH planned to merge. This has now been completed and Greenbrier-Astra Rail has been created.

The combination creates Europe’s largest end-to-end freight railcar manufacturing, engineering and repair business to reach markets throughout Europe, Eurasia, and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries like Saudi Arabia.

Greenbrier controls Greenbrier-Astra Rail with an equity interest of around 75%. Thomas Manns, most recently chairman of Astra Rail, owns the remainder of the new company. In addition to his ownership stake, he becomes Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Greenbrier-Astra Rail and leads its commercial operations, working closely with its Management Board and Jim Cowan, President of Greenbrier International.

Also serving on the Supervisory Board is Bill Furman, Chairman and CEO of Greenbrier; Alejandro Centurion, President of Greenbrier Global Manufacturing Operations; Klaus Krauth, Managing Director of Astra Holding GmbH and Cowan.

Chairman and CEO of Greenbrier, Bill Furman said: “The creation of Greenbrier-Astra Rail extends Greenbrier’s commitment to global diversification while providing scale and greater value to our customers in Europe. We are excited to unify the creative and capable management teams from both companies to deliver world-class innovation to our freight railcar customers in Europe and beyond. Together with our investments in Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Mexico, Greenbrier has substantially grown our international footprint over the last several years to create a truly global network.  We look forward to an expanded presence in Europe, while we also address developing markets in the GCC, Africa and Eurasia.”

For more information visit www.gbrx.com

11th June 2017