Bosphorus Member, Greenbrier Acquires Majority Interest in Turkish Railcar Builder Rayvag

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Bosphorus Member, Greenbrier Acquires Majority Interest in Turkish Railcar Builder Rayvag

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (GBX) today announced that it has completed an agreement between Rayvag Vagon Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (“Rayvag”) and Greenbrier’s European subsidiary, Greenbrier-AstraRail, to take an approximately 68% ownership stake in the railcar manufacturer and provider of railcar repair and parts services.

The freight transport sector in Turkey is growing quickly and the Turkish government is committed to modernizing the existing rail system. Beginning in 2014, the state-owned Turkish Railways opened the rail network to use by private operators. Since then, freight movement on the railroad is on the rise. With rail freight volumes expected to see an increase of 65 million tons by 2023, the Turkish government plans to expand rail lines, proposing to invest more than $23.5 billion USD toward rail infrastructure projects through 2023. The Turkish rail industry also is migrating to European rail standards for its infrastructure as intercontinental rail traffic grows. Greenbrier-AstraRail is the leading designer and manufacturer of freight wagons built to European rail standards.

Greenbrier’s presence in Turkey, through its interest in Rayvag, continues its pursuit of growth by accessing global freight markets. Adding Rayvag to Greenbrier Europe, which also includes Poland’s WagonySwidnica and Romania’s AstraRail, extends Greenbrier’s continental reach. This allows Greenbrier Europe to acquire new railcar customers while also allowing it to serve existing customers which operate on the nearly 5,500-mile Turkish rail system. Despite strong rail penetration across the country, currently, only 5% of Turkey’sfreight traffic moves by rail, compared to an average 17% of freight transported by rail in Europe. The expanse of the Turkish rail system and Turkey’s strategic location between Europe and Asia makes it a prime location for freight rail growth. Click to read more.