n the transaction, expected to close within a few months, Westinghouse Airbrake stockholders will exchange each of their shares for 1.3 MotivePower shares, giving them a 55% stake in the new company. The combined company will be called MotivePower Industries and will be based in Pittsburgh. However, three of its top four officers will come from Westinghouse Air Brake.

Industry analysts are taking a bright view of the union, which will be called complementary businesses. Pittsburgh based MotivePower manufactures and distributes locomotive components and provides maintenance services, while Westinghouse, also based in Pennsylvania, makes air brakes, compressors, hand brakes and doors for locomotives and freight cars. William E Kassling, Westinghouse AirBrake's chairman and chief executive officer, said the merger is part of the larger consolidation sweeping the US railroad industry. Railroads are seeking bigger market shares and are looking for suppliers that can provide more complete sets of products.

Asian Wall Street Journal