gec alstom type soci t anonyme traded as euronext alo industry rail transportation founded 1928 ; 88 years ago 1928 headquarters saint ouen 1 key people patrick kron chairman and ceo products railway vehicles and signalling revenue 6.2 billion 2014 2 operating income 764 million 2010 2011 2 profit 462 million 2010 2011 2 total assets 37.16 billion 2016 3 total equity 4.2 billion march 2011 2 number of employees 32 000 march 2014 2 website www.alstom.com 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 fran aise thomson houston and the soci t alsacienne de constructions m caniques 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 alstom 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 comply with eu rules on state aid . in 2014 alstom and general electric ge announced that a us 17 billion 12.4 billion bid for the company s power and grid divisions had been made and provisionally accepted . after modification of the deal following political controversy in france relating to the take over by a foreign company of a strategic player in heavy industry ge s bid was modified ; to include joint ventures in power generation and electrical transmission and the sale of its own rail signalling business to alstom . the ge acquisition deal for the power and grid division was accepted by eu and us anticompetition authorities in mid 2015 subject to the sale of alstom s heavy gas turbine business . the acquisition was finalised on 2 november 2015 with ge acquiring alstom s power generation and electricity transmission business combined as ge power leaving alstom as company operating solely in the rail transport market . contents 1 history 1.1 alsthom 1928 1989 1.2 gec alsthom 1989 1998 1.3 alstom 1998 present 1.3.1 acquisition by general electric 1.3.2 2014 bribery charges and fines 1.4 november 2015 present 2 company structure products and services 2.1 transport 2.2 former businesses 2.2.1 power generation 2.2.2 alstom grid 3 financial information 3.1 shareholders 4 see also 5 notes 6 references 6.1 sources 7 external links history edit alsthom 1928 1989 edit alsthom was founded in 1928 from the merger of french heavy engineering interests of the thomson houston electric company then part of general electric the compagnie fran aise pour l exploitation des proc d s thomson houston or compagnie fran aise thomson houston cfth and soci t alsacienne de constructions m caniques with the first factory in belfort . in 1932 alsthom expanded into transportation by acquiring constructions electriques de france tarbes a manufacturer of electric locomotives as well as electrical and hydraulic equipment . in 1969 compagnie g n rale d electricit cge became the majority shareholder of alsthom . in 1976 alsthom merged with chantiers de l atlantique becoming alsthom atlantique . thus the business expanded into marine . the next year it constructed the first 1300 mw generator set for the paluel power station setting a world record with an output of 1500 mw . in 1978 alsthom delivered its first tgv to sncf . the tgv went on to break world rail speed records in 1981 at 380 kilometres per hour 240 mph and in 1990 at 515.3 kilometres per hour 320.2 mph . it also set the world endurance record for high speed train lines in 2001 travelling the 1 067.2 kilometres 663.1 mi from calais to marseille in 3 hours and 29 minutes . in 1986 alsthom belfort received an order from edf for the largest gas turbine in the world 212 mw . in 1988 89 holding company cgee alstom acquired acec energie hydroturbines and electrical equipment for the nuclear industry and acec automatisme automation from the dissolution of belgian electrical engineering company acec sa . alstom acquired 100 % of acec s transport division renaming it acec transport . 4 gec alsthom 1989 1998 edit see also general electric company plc in 1989 gec alsthom was formed from a 50 50 merger of the power and transport activities of compagnie g n rale d electricit cge subsidiary alstom and the powers system division of the general electric company plc with the intent to allow alsthom to export outside france . 5 in 1991 alstom s parent company cge was renamed alcatel alsthom compagnie g n rale d electricit or alcatel alsthom for short . 5 in 1994 gec alsthom acquired the rail vehicle manufacturer linke hofmann busch from salzgitter ag . in 1995 the company acquired the remaining shares in the steam turbine manufacturer man energie . citation needed in early 1998 gec alsthom acquired the electrical contractor cegelec renaming it alstom power conversion . in 1998 gec alsthom bought italian firm sasib spa s rail signalling subsidiary sasib railways 6 7 which included the former general railway signal usa . 8 9 alstom 1998 present edit in june 1998 gec alsthom was listed on the paris stock exchange ; gec and alcatel sold off part of their stakes in the capital 23.6 % each . at the same time the company name was changed to alstom . in 1999 alstom s energy division merged with abb in a 50 50 joint company known as abb alstom power . alstom also bought canada s t l cit citation needed a passenger information and security solutions company and sold its heavy duty gas turbine business to general electric . 10 11 the next year it bought out abb s share in abb alstom power . 12 in 2000 alstom sold its diesel engine businesses ruston paxman and mirrlees blackstone to man group . 13 it also acquired a 51 % stake in fiat ferroviaria the italian rail manufacturer and world leader in tilting technology . 14 in april 2003 alstom sold its industrial turbine business to siemens for 1.1 billion . 15 by 2003 alstom was facing a financial crisis due to poor sales and over 5 billion of debt liabilities with the potential to force the liquidation of the company . the crisis was in part due to 4 billion in costs from a design flaw in the turbines from the 2000 abb group acquisition and from the collapse of customer renaissance cruises and a downturn in the marine market . alstom s share price had dropped 90 % over two years . 16 17 european competition commission law required alstom to sell several of its subsidiaries including its shipbuilding and electrical transmission assets when it accepted a 3.2 billion rescue plan involving the french state . 18 in 2004 the french state took a 21 % stake in alstom and received an eu approved french government bailout worth 2.5 billion . 19 the company sold its electrical transmission and distribution grid activities to areva the diesel locomotive manufacturer meinfesa to vossloh ag and alstom power rentals to apr llc . alstom also delivered the queen mary 2 the world s largest ocean liner to cunard during 2004 . in 2006 alstom sold its marine division to the norwegian group aker yards with a commitment to retain 25 % of the shares until 2010 . citation needed it also sold alstom power conversion which became converteam in a leveraged buy out deal funded by barclays private equity france sas . 20 in june bouygues group acquired the french government s 21 % holding for 2 billion . 21 later in the year bouygues increased its shareholding to 24 % . in 2007 tgv est set the world speed record for rail vehicles of 574.8 kilometres per hour 357.2 mph . in march alstom acquired power systems manufacturing llc florida usa a manufacturer of gas turbine components from calpine corporation for 242 million . 22 23 in june alstom acquired the spanish wind turbine manufacturer ecot cnia renamed as alstom ecot cnia since 2010 alstom wind . the company also adopted a new graphic chart logo corporate identity using alstom as its trading name reserving alstom sa for legal documents . in 2009 alstom acquired 25 % of russia s transmashholding . 24 in 2010 alstom re acquired the electric power transmission division of areva sa which had previously been sold in 2004 ; 25 26 the re acquisition became a new operating division named alstom grid . 27 the company also opened a wind turbine assembly facility in amarillo texas ; 28 a turbine manufacturing facility in chattanooga tennessee ; 29 and a new hydropower manufacturing facility in china . 30 investments underlined alstom s clean power strategy focused on providing a wide range of power generation capabilities highly efficient technology and carbon capture and storage technology led by then alstom power president philippe joubert . 31 in 2011 alstom and the iraqi government signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the construction of a new high speed rail line between baghdad and basra . 32 in 2012 alstom opened construction of factories at sorel tracy quebec canada passenger rail vehicles . 33 34 after a consortium of alstom alstom wind edf and dong energy was awarded three major french offshore wind farm contracts the company initiated construction of factories at cherbourg turbine blades in association with lm power also wind turbine towers and saint nazaire nacelles and generators . 35 also in 2012 the company forms a joint venture with rushydro to manufacture hydropower equipment for small and medium power hydropower plants . up to about 100mw . 36 in november 2013 alstom announced it planned to raise 1 to 2 billion through sale of some non core assets plus the possible sale of a stake in alstom transport and cut 1300 jobs . 37 38 in 2014 alstom sold its steam auxiliary components activities air preheaters and gas gas heaters for thermal power other industrial heat transfer equipment and grinding mills to triton partners for 730 million . 39 in november 2014 alstom was awarded a 429.4 million contract to modernise 85 trains for the mexico city metro system . 40 acquisition by general electric edit on 24 april 2014 bloomberg l.p. reported that general electric ge was in talks to acquire alstom for 13 billion and claimed the deal had the support of 29 % shareholder bouygues ; as a result the company s share price rose 18 % in one day . neither ge nor alstom confirmed the report . 41 on 27 april le figaro reported that an alternative offer of a cash plus asset swap had been made by siemens . 42 the bid was reported to involve siemens acquiring alstom s power business in exchange for part of its rail transport arm plus a cash offer as good as ge s and various job guarantees . 43 44 the siemens deal was reported as being promoted by french economic minister arnaud montebourg . however the siemens and alstom s companies product overlap was greater representing a greater jobs risk and had potential issues with european competition regulators . 43 45 siemens initial offer was characterised as defensive and was met with skepticism from investors and analysts . 46 47 on 29 april reuters reported that the board of