13.02.17
Trenitalia completes £72m deal to acquire c2c
The Italian passenger rail company Trenitalia, a part of FS Italiane Group, has completed the acquisition of London and Essex train operator c2c from National Express Group. Reports Josh Mines.
While a provisional arrangement was reached for the take-over at the start of January, the DfT has officially approved the £72.6m deal which will see c2c’s franchise continue to run until November 2029.
As guarantor of the agreement, FS Italiane has also paid an additional £35mto settle an existing intercompany loan granted to the franchisee and in which it now acts as lender.
The deal marks the first step in Trenitalia’s wider strategy to expand into the British rail market following the announcement of a joint venture with FirstGroup in bidding for the East Midlands and West Coast Partnership rail franchises.
C2c will still be led by managing director Julian Drury and retain its current organisational structure despite the acquisition.
Barbara Morgante, CEO of Trenitalia, said: “I am pleased that we have been able to conclude this acquisition so rapidly, and we can now immediately start to concentrate on the day-to-day business of c2c.
“Under the leadership of Julian Drury, we will continue to focus on delivering the outstanding service that helped make c2c the best performing operator in the UK and we will collaborate with the management to introduce further improvements.
“In addition to the c2c acquisition, our recent participation in the East Midlands and West Coast Partnership bids shows that we are strongly committed to the UK market, and look forward to passengers increasingly benefiting from our experience, competence and ability to innovate.”
In 2015 Trenitalia, the state owned Italian rail operator, became the first new entrant to be awarded a PQQ Passport by the DfT, a move that allows the company to apply for future franchise competitions without needing to submit the same information each time.
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