July 19th, 2022 r.
Press-release
Zakłady Automatyki Kombud and Rail-Mil Group are joining forces
The two leading Polish companies on the railway market: Zakłady Automatyki Kombud and Rail-Mil Group have announced their planned merger. In context, the railway management system market size has been estimated at PLN 3 billion annually. The purpose of the merger is to intensify research and development activities, as well as to strengthen the technological potential of all the affiliated companies within the group. In accordance with the existing regulations, the agreement has been approved by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK).
As a result of the proposed merger Zakłady Automatyki Kombud and the affiliated companies within the Rail-Mil Group will become part of the new holding company, which will remain in the hands of the existing owners of both groups.
“The merger is a result of a long-term, close cooperation and the commitment of both companies towards developing and building modern and safe railways”, says Anna Szczygielska, member of the board at Zakłady Automatyki Kombud. ”The next stage of development will enable both companies to expand their technological potential, as well as to increase their financial capacity. At the same time, it will enable growth in new areas, through a joint product portfolio in context of the ETCS market, but also export activities and possible acquisitions," adds Anna Szczygielska.
„The challenges we have faced within the last two years: the worldwide pandemic and the war in Ukraine have clearly shown the importance of having national competence in critical infrastructure. The merger will undoubtedly enhance our capabilities and the offer of the affiliated companies within the group in the event of such circumstances. Thus, providing systems that are predominantly based on components of our own “in-house” production will drastically reduce our dependence on imported components” states Slawomir Jasinski, Vice President of the Board of Rail-Mil Group. “The merger at holding level will increase our opportunities and reduce risks in complementary business areas: technology development, certification, sales, implementation and maintenance on the rail market in Poland, as well as Central and Eastern Europe”. In the product area, the Group will have the widest portfolio of their own signalling and traffic management systems among Polish manufacturers. The combined human capacity of the two companies will be over 500 people, including more than 300 engineers. Revenues of the Group companies for 2021 are estimated at over PLN 500 million.
Zakłady Automatyki KOMBUD S.A. is one of the leaders in Polish railway signalling market. During 30 years of activity, Kombud has completed nearly 150 local traffic management systems and over 1,800 level crossing protection systems. Kombud's electronic rail traffic management systems are used on the Central Railway Main Line (CMK), numerous stations of the Warsaw Railway Junction as well as at the 65 LHS Line (broad gauge), the Bogdanka coal mine and the factory siding track of the Kozienice Power Plant. Kombud also supplied traffic monitoring on the longest 165 km section of the railway line in Poland. The company has implemented an extensive research and development programme, which has enabled it to develop a wide portfolio of railway traffic control and management systems.
Rail-Mil Group is a Polish company operating in the field of electronics and industrial automation. More than a hundred engineers: design, patent and implement modern solutions designed for metro and railways. They are produced in accordance with the European ERTMS and ETCS-L1 standards. Rail-Mil is a manufacturer of the rmCBTC® – automatic train control system, as well as other railway dedicated devices such as: eurobalises, programmers, LEU coders, among other dedicated solutions. Systems developed and provided by Rail-Mil are already successfully utilized and responsible for the traffic control and management on both M1 and M2 Warsaw Metro lines.
