Hitachi to buy Italian rail firms for US$2.1b: reports

Tokyo

HITACHI will buy the rail and traffic signal businesses of Italy's Finmeccanica for an estimated US$2.1 billion, reports said on Tuesday, as the Japanese firm looks to expand overseas and challenge major international railways firms.

The Italian defence and aerospace company has agreed to sell its rail car unit AnsaldoBreda and Ansaldo STS, the world's number two traffic signal company, to the vast Japanese conglomerate, according to reports by the leading Nikkei business daily and other major media.