Japan's Hitachi to buy Honolulu rail car maker Ansaldo for $2.2B

Japan's Hitachi Ltd. has agreed to buy two Ansaldo units that hold a $1.4 billion contract to build and operate the driverless trains for Honolulu's elevated-rail mass-transit system. Italian defense and aerospace group Finmeccanica is selling the units for $2.2 billion, the two companies said Tuesday. Bloomberg reports that Hitachi agreed to buy Finmeccanica's 40 percent stake in the rail signaling unit Ansaldo STS and the rail car maker AnsaldoBreda, and will start a mandatory tender offer for…