Alstom

Alstom is a French multinational company operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, and Pendolino high-speed trains, in addition to suburban, regional and metro trains, and Citadis trams.Alstom (originally as Alsthom) was formed from a merger between Compagnie Française Thomson Houston and the Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques in 1928; significant acquisitions included the Constructions Electriques de France (1932), shipbuilder Chantiers de l'Atlantique (1976), and parts of ACEC SA (Belgium, late 1980s). A merger with parts of the General Electric Company plc (UK) formed GEC-Alsthom in 1989; the company became Alstom in 1998.In 2004, Alstom was in financial crisis due to massive inherited unexpected costs (€4 billion) arising from a design flaw inherited from the acquisition of ABB Group's turbine business, in addition to losses in other areas of the business. The company required a €3.2 billion state-backed bailout in 2003 – and as a result was required to sell several divisions including shipbuilding and electrical transmission to Nikhanj Power, in order to comply with EU rules on state aid.