TORONTO (AP) — Bombardier Inc. confirmed Monday that its rail division is in ''very preliminary'' talks with Transmashholding, Russia's leading rail technology manufacturer, amid an unconfirmed report that OAO Russian Railways wants a piece of the big Canadian industrial company.
The Montreal-based company, which owns the world's largest manufacturer of rail equipment, did not specify in its statement what the talks were about but said it was responding to recent media reports.
An English online edition of the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported Monday that Russian Railways is aiming to acquire a stake in Bombardier Transportation, in exchange for shares of Transmashholding.
Citing unidentified sources, the reports say that Russian Railways is now buying a stake in Transmashholding from the Dutch company Breakers Investments BV, which recently bought Transmashholding.
Bombardier's news release did not mention Russian Railways or Breakers Investments.
This will not be the first partnership between a Canadian and Russian industrial company. A deal was brokered between Ontario-based autoparts maker Magna International and Russian Machines this year.
Bombardier is one of Canada's leading manufacturing companies — primarily aerospace and rail equipment — and like Magna is publicly traded.
In the last year or so, reports have circulated that the Montreal-based parent company was seeking to sell part of its Berlin-based rail transit business, which it acquired several years ago from the former DaimlerChrysler group. That deal eventually led to a legal battle between the two companies in a dispute over the pricetag of the railcar producer.
Bombardier's statement Monday, issued from the rail division's headquarters in Germany, said Bombardier Transportation and Transmashholding announced May 25 that they would invest 12.5 million euros together to create two joint ventures.
One venture would develop advanced propulsion technology and the other would manufacture traction converters based on Bombardier's Mitrac propulsion technology.
''Additional areas of co-operation are also being considered between the two parties,'' Bombardier Transportation said in its statement Monday.
''These discussions are at a very preliminary stage and, as the outcome is unknown, the company will make no further comment on these discussions at this time.''
Bombardier Transportation's spokesman for North America did not respond to a request for clarification.
Reports about a possible collaboration between Russian Railways and Bombardier emerged in Russia last week.