Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, today announces it has reached agreement for the sale of Omnicom, its specialist rail measurement hardware and intelligent software business, to Hitachi Rail, a leading partner to the world’s best transportation companies.

The acquisition by Hitachi Rail will support Omnicom’s growth strategy to expand beyond the UK into the US and European markets. Balfour Beatty’s UK Rail business will continue to focus on its core capability of managing, enhancing and maintaining thousands of miles of railways and supporting rail infrastructure across the UK, crucial for community connectivity and economic growth.

Over the last decade, Omnicom’s capabilities and offering to the market has strengthened through acquisition and organic growth. Today, with its over 100-strong subject matter experts, it develops and deploys proven, AI enabled technology alongside robust hardware and software to capture rail data. This assures operational stability and enhances train-borne monitoring of rail infrastructure for customers such as Network Rail and London Underground.

Mick Rayner, Managing Director of Balfour Beatty’s UK Rail business, said: “In order to capitalise on its unique technological solutions to the Rail market, Omnicom requires an owner with a truly global reach and a complementary culture. Hitachi’s acquisition will further enable Omnicom to leverage its capabilities and apply its expertise in the rail and digital technology sectors in both the US and European markets”.

Sanjay Razdan, Managing Director of Omnicom, said: “This acquisition strengthens Omnicom’s ability to collaborate, innovate and deliver AI-enabled systems and services whilst further enhancing the safety, efficiency, and reliability of rail infrastructure, building on our proven data driven solutions which help predict and prevent railway asset failures.  I look forward to Omnicom’s continuing success as part of the Hitachi brand”.

Commenting on the acquisition, Hitachi Rail CEO, Giuseppe Marino, said: “This is a strategic acquisition for Hitachi Rail. Plugging Omnicom’s pioneering track monitoring tools into our digital asset management platform, will further strengthen our global offer to optimize customers’ rail services and the surrounding infrastructure. New technological solutions such as our HMAX platform demonstrate the power of AI to enhance the performance of our railway infrastructure and systems.”

Balfour Beatty is one of the UK’s leading rail infrastructure providers, with over 1,600 employees within its Rail business. From feasibility studies, planning and design through to implementation and asset management, the company provides multi-disciplinary rail infrastructure services across the rail asset lifecycle including electrification, track, power, signalling and railway systems and technologies in partnership with long-term customers such as Network Rail and Transport for London.

A further announcement will be made by Balfour Beatty on completion of the sale.