VOSSLOH has announced its intention to acquire Cordel, a British supplier of Lidar-based imaging systems for automated infrastructure inspection, making an offer for the company that is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.
The offer values Cordel at approximately £29m, and shareholders in the company would receive 12.4p per share. Vossloh says that the board of Cordel intends to unanimously recommend the offer, and subject to approval by shareholders and the relevant authorities the transaction is expected to be completed during the third quarter of this year.
Cordel operates through six companies in three countries with a total of 42 employees. Its customers include British and Australian infrastructure managers Network Rail and Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), Amtrak in the United States and Mayan Train in Mexico, as well as other clients in the Middle East and North America.
Vossloh says that combining the Cordel range of hardware and software with its existing laser inspection technology will assist the development of automated track inspection systems with continuous monitoring capability. Cordel and Vossloh developed a joint pilot project last year in Europe which demonstrated significant potential, according to Vossloh.
“By combining Vossloh’s global infrastructure expertise with Cordel’s advanced digital technologies for rail network monitoring and optimisation, we will create a more integrated and differentiated proposition for customers worldwide,” says Vossloh CEO, Oliver Schuster.
