CRRC denies reports on buying Bombardier's railway business

People visit the exhibition stand of CRRC Corp, a new conglomerate formed by the merger of China's top two high-speed rail makers, China North Railway (CNR) and China South Railway (CSR), at the UrTran 2015 International Urban Rail Exhibition in Beijing, capital of China, June 16, 2015.[Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - China's high-speed rail maker CRRC Corp Ltd on Monday denied media reports that it plans to buy the railway business of Canadian transportation company Bombardier Inc.

Neither CRRC nor its subsidiaries have had plans to make such an acquisition, the firm said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The statement came after media reports last week that an plan announced by CRRC to purchase the stocks of a Hong Kong-listed company would pave the way for acquiring Bombardier's railway business.

CSR (Hong Kong), a CRRC subsidiary, intends to subscribe 6.5 billion new stocks that may be issued by China Properties Investment Holdings Ltd at a price of HK$0.1 ($0.013) per share in cash, CRRC announced on June 19.

If completed, that deal will allow CSR (Hong Kong) to hold 60.52 percent of the latter's outstanding shares.

The announcement triggered speculation that CRRC might use China Properties Investment Holdings Ltd as a shell company to increase financing for investment in Bombardier.

CRRC was formed by the merger of China's former top two train manufacturers, China North Railway (CNR) and China South Railway (CSR). The new conglomerate debuted on the Chinese stock market on June 8.

Reuters reported on April 29 that CNR and CSR had been in discussions with Bombardier about possibly buying a controlling stake in the Canadian company's railway unit, noting that the discussions could not move forward until CSR and CNR completed the merger.

CRRC's share prices fell Monday, diving 8.6 percent in Shanghai and dropping 3.1 percent in Hong Kong.