Voestalpine buys U.S. railway track systems maker

VIENNA, March 27 (Reuters) - Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine (VOES.VI) said on Friday it had acquired a U.S. supplier of speciality components for railway tracks, part of a plan by the company to expand its railway division.

Voestalpine said its North American unit, VAE Nortrak, which makes railway switches and other track materials, had acquired the assets of Leading Edge Enterprises Inc. of Decatur, Illinois.

The company declined to name a figure for the acquisition but said it was "relatively small".

"This is a small part of our railway division expansion," said a company spokesman.

Voestalpine in February gave a grim outlook for the steel industry and forecast a drop in full-year operating profit, noting that the only sectors in which demand had held up in well in the third quarter were the energy industry and railway infrastructure.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; editing by Simon Jessop)