Wabtec to acquire Dellner Couplers for $960M in cash

Wabtec (WAB) a definitive agreement to acquire Dellner Couplers, a global company in highly engineered safety-critical train connection systems and services for passenger rail rolling stock. The acquisition brings highly attractive and complementary technologies to Wabtec and positions the company for accelerated, profitable growth, while strengthening its portfolio of mission critical passenger rail systems. Wabtec is acquiring Dellner Couplers for $960M in cash, financed through cash on hand and short-term debt. The acquisition is anticipated to provide immediate shareholder value with an accretive growth profile, accretive Adjusted EBIT margins, accretive Adjusted EPS in the first year of ownership and accretive return on invested capital over time. The purchase price reflects an estimated multiple of 12.5x projected 2025 EBITDA adjusted for transaction costs and projected run-rate cost synergies of $22M which we expect to be realized over a three-year period. Dellner Couplers is expected to generate approximately $250M of revenue in 2025 and expected growth that will exceed the company’s average growth over the next five years. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.