Greenbrier Cos Inc remains open to talks with Carl Icahn about a merger with American Railcar Industries Inc, the railcar maker's chief executive said, after rejecting two takeover offers from the billionaire investor in the last month. Icahn-controlled American Railcar offered to purchase Greenbrier in December for about $550 million and later raised its offer. The offers were rejected by Greenbrier as too low.The activist investor, who built up a stake of 10 percent in Greenbrier before making the offer, has now reduced it to 3.4 percent.A combination with American Railcar would have to successfully integrate the two management teams and make the merged company less cyclical, Greenbrier CEO William Furman told analysts in a post-earnings conference call.Greenbrier shares, which have fallen nearly 35 percent in 2012, were up as much as 6 percent at $18.25 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
American Railcar Industries, Inc. is a North American designer and manufacturer of hopper and tank railcars. Shares of ARII traded higher by 1.07% or $0.36/share to $33.93. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $20.26 and as high as $36.33. On average, 104433 shares of ARII exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 96115.
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