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Alstom
Alstom (formerly GEC-Alsthom) (Euronext: ALO) is a large French company whose businesses are power generation and manufacturing trains (e.g. the TGV and Eurostar) and ships (e.g. the Queen Mary 2). According to the company website, in the year 2001/02 Alstom had annual sales of over €23 billion, and employed more than 118,000 people in over 70 countries. Its headquarters are located in Levallois-Perret, in the vicinity of Paris.
The current CEO is Patrick Kron, who succeeded Pierre Bilger.
Alstom - Financial information
Alstom is traded in the stock markets of Paris and New York and until November 2003 was also traded on the London stock exchange. When the markets closed on 12 March 2003, its market capitalization was €380.2 million.
List of French companies, List of locomotive builders
Alstom - History
The name of the company derives from the French region of Alsace and the surname of the engineer Elihu Thomson. The company always writes it in capitals, ALSTOM, even though it is not an acronym.
Alstom - Alsthom
It was formed in 1928 from three companies: Alsacienne Société, Compagnie Générale d'Electricité and Thomson Houston.
Alstom - GEC Alsthom
It was formed in 1988 from the heavy engineering interests of Britain's GEC and Compagnie Générale d'Electricité's (CGE) Alsthom division as GEC Alsthom. In 1991 CGE adopted the name Alcatel Alsthom and in 1998 this became simply Alcatel.
Alstom - Alstom
In December 1997 GEC Alsthom had its initial public offering as Alstom. GEC and Alcatel maintained 24% shares in the new company. Shares were initially at a price roughly equivalent to 32 euros. Between January and February 2001 Marconi plc (the renamed GEC) sold 76.4% of its 24% share. The remaining 5.67% share was sold in June. Also in 2001 Alcatel sold its 24% stake. The share price fell steeply following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks when a number of cruise liner orders failed. On 12 March 2003, shares dipped 50 per cent in one day, and finished at 1.36 euros. At this point it was announced that the most profitable division of the company would be sold off: its power transmission interests. In January 2004 these were transferred to Areva.
Alstom - Products
Alstom's products include:
- TGV high-speed trains
- Prima diesel and electric locomotives
- Citadis trams
- Coradia and Adelante trains
- Pendolino trains
- X'Trapolis Suburban trains
- various models of metro trains
- the Queen Mary 2
See also
- List of French companies
- List of locomotive builders
Other related archives12 March, 2003, Adelante, Alcatel, Alsace, Areva, CEO, Citadis, Coradia, Elihu Thomson, Euronext, Eurostar, French, GEC, Levallois-Perret, List of French companies, List of locomotive builders, Marconi plc, Paris, Patrick Kron, Pendolino, Prima, Queen Mary 2, September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, TGV, X'Trapolis, acronym, company, market capitalization, metro, power generation, power transmission, ships, trains
 Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Alstom", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki |