Russian Railways mulls bid for PSA's Gefco logistics unit
 |
Reprints
Print
Respond
MOSCOW (Reuters) -- Russian state railway monopoly Russian Railways has considered bidding for French carmaker PSA/Peugeot-Citroen's logistics division Gefco, according to materials produced for a Russian Railways' board meeting seen by Reuters on Thursday.
PSA plans to sell a 75 percent stake in the unit for up to 1 billion euros ($1.25 billion) to cut the car company's debt and shore up its finances. The automaker has been hit hard by the euro-zone crisis, especially in its traditionally strong southern European markets, where car sales are plunging. PSA posted a net loss in the first half and a 700 million-euro ($857.5 million) operating loss for the core carmaking division. Its manufacturing operations are burning 200 million euros a month, with cash flow not expected to turn positive until 2015, the company has said.
In a presentation dated August 2012, a proposed deal was preliminarily valued at up to 975 million euros, excluding potential synergies, based on a $1.3 billion valuation for 100 percent of Gefco.
It is unclear whether Russian Railways remains interested in the asset. The company declined to comment.
People familiar with the situation told Reuters last month that PSA had narrowed the field of potential buyers to four private equity bidders - Gores Group, Platinum Equity, PAI and a team of CVC and AXA Private Equity.
Automotive News Europe contributed to this report
Contact Automotive News
