International PPL to take 100pc stake in German train company
International Public Partnerships has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to acquire a further 51% shareholding in BeNEX from Hamburger Hochbahn (HHA) - the City of Hamburg's municipal public transportation company - it announced on Tuesday.
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The FTSE 250 company said it agreed to invest up to around €54m, of which part would be subscribed immediately as additional capital to BeNEX - which will be used primarily to reduce certain debt which was linked to a requirement for HHA to be a continuing shareholder - and the remainder to be used to acquire the additional 51% shareholding.
It said the transaction would therefore see its ownership increase from 49% to 100%.
The payment to acquire the shareholding would be deferred, and was expected to be paid over the period to 2026 and to be funded by a return of capital from BeNEX over the same period.
BeNEX both leases rolling stock and invests in train operating companies which operate rail services under concession agreements with German federal states.
When the firm acquired its initial 49% stake in 2007, it formed a partnership with HHA to assist in growing BeNEX's business to benefit from the reform that was taking place in the German rail industry.
“Since acquisition, BeNEX has been a successful investment for INPP and it has seen continued growth,” the company’s board said in its statement.
“It has a highly experienced management team that actively manages its fleets and operations.”
As at 31 December, it had 86 trains on lease to seven different train operating companies - six of which were fully or partly owned by BeNEX.
Under the joint ownership of HHA and INPP, the number of operating concessions managed by BeNEX train operating companies had increased from eight to 12.
INPP said key investment features included the fact that a federal state was the public-sector counterparty for each individual train operating concession, with concession agreements typically providing an indexed revenue stream to adjust for operating cost increases over the term of the concession.
It added that BeNEX did not take risk on passenger numbers or fare receipts on the majority of its concessions, and that BeNEX benefitted from a “strong and successful” management team.
The firm’s acquisition of the additional stake in BeNEX remained subject to a number of conditions precedent.
Those were expected to be met over the next two months, with financial close anticipated before the end of June.