Škoda Transportation Group Invests in Finland

Škoda Transportation Group had bought a controlling stake in the Finnish company TransTech. It is the only Finnish manufacturer of railway and urban rail vehicles and it’s an annual turnover come up to several billion CZK.
“In recent years Škoda Transportation Group had great achievements especially on foreign markets. Our long-term goal is to consolidate the company’s position mainly in Western Europe. The acquisition of the Finnish company TransTech is one of the steps to accomplish this goal,” says Tomáš Krsek, Chairman of the Board, Škoda Transportation.

TransTech company is the largest manufacturer of rail vehicles in Finland. Its main products include double-deck electric cars (operated as pushpull sets), trams and engineering products. It currently employs approximately 500 people. The annual turnover of the company is more than 2.5 billion CZK. The company key contract is supply of double-decker and pressure-tight carriages for Finnish State Railways (VR Limited), which are designed for speed of 200 km/h. The company also has a framework agreement for the supply of 100% low-floor trams with fully pivotable bogies for the Finnish capital Helsinki.

“With this acquisition is Škoda Transportation becoming a key player in the field of railway and urban rail vehicles on the Finnish market. Equally significant is the fact that this trade significantly improves the starting position of Škoda business development all throughout Scandinavia,” says Zdeněk Majer, vice president for sales at Škoda Transportation.

“We are pleased that Škoda Transportation Group has become the new majority shareholder of TransTech, especially because it is an investor from the same field. In addition, Škoda Transportation has its own broad product portfolio and thereby can contribute to further development of TransTech company. The original owner, Mr. Ilka Brotherus remains a minority shareholder, via the company Sinituote Oy,” says Leif Ekstrom, a member of the Board of TransTech.

TransTech Company was founded in 1985. Today the company has in its portfolio of products like low-floor trams and electric units, as well as wagons or wagons for transporting cars. Škoda Transportation bought a majority share from the Finnish investment company Pritech Oy.

Source : Skoda