S&T has entered into an agreement with the Kapsch Group to purchase Kapsch CarrierCom and Kapsch PublicTransportCom. The transaction is subject to approval by the competition authorities.
Kapsch CarrierCom supplies communications products for mission-critical networks. Its business includes the planning, development, assembly and maintenance of GSM-R (global systems for mobile communication on railways) networks and their further development into FRMCS (future railway mobile communication systems).
Kapsch CarrierCom also has a portfolio of PS-LTE (public safety LTE) products. The company participates also in the European research initiative Shift2Rail.
Kapsch PublicTransportCom provides products for public transportation. The two business areas employ nearly 500 people, and in their last financial year had revenues of some EUR 120 million. Downstream project costs and expenditures for external development caused the areas to continue to record losses. The purchase price – subsequent to taking into consideration liabilities and cash on hand – ranges in the low double digit millions of euros.
Hannes Niederhauser, the Chairman of the Executive Board of S&T, considers the acquisition a further milestone in the implementation of the objectives set for growth in the company's Agenda 2023 plan. The technologies acquired in the transaction ideally complement the portfolio of the Kontron/S&T Group in the area of IoT Transportation, he said.
According to Georg Kapsch, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Kapsch Group, the group has resolved to concentrate its strategic focus on two areas in the future: products for toll and traffic management systems leading to ‘intelligent roads’ in inter- and intra-urban settings, with this being handled by Kapsch TrafficCom; and ICT, IoT and digitisation products through Kapsch BusinessCom. This new focus led to the decision to sell Kapsch CarrierCom and Kapsch PublicTransportCom.
