03.03.15
Eversholt Rail sells entire freight wagon fleet
Eversholt Rail, the rolling stock leasing company, has announced it is selling its entire freight wagon fleet to Nacco (UK) Ltd.
The sale is for an undisclosed price. The fleet consists of 920 wagons and 63 load units. The vehicles range from container flats and autoballasters to coal and aggregate hoppers and box wagons. It includes:
- 449 container intermodal flat wagons, built by various manufacturers
- 200 MJA/MLA box wagons, built by Greenbrier
- 142 HHA and 48 HYA coal hoppers, built by Greenbrier / IRS
- 71 JGA/HIA aggregate hopper wagons, built by WH Davis / Greenbrier
- 10 HQA Autoballaster ballast hoppers, built by Wabtec
Mary Kenny, chief executive of Eversholt Rail Group, said: "We are delighted to have reached this sale agreement with Nacco (U.K.). They are highly experienced operators and will provide a very good home for our freight wagon fleet. The sale will enable us to redeploy resources and focus on our core activities of leasing passenger rolling stock and freight locomotives.”
In January RTM reported that Eversholt were being acquired for £2.5bn by CK Investments, which is jointly owned by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited and Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited, based in Hong Kong.
Nacco has also undergone a recent change of ownership, having been sold to North America's third-largest wagon leasing company CIT Group at the beginning of last year.
Dan DiStefano, president of Nacco, said: "Eversholt Rail is an industry leader in the UK Market and has built a reputation based on strong rail expertise and a deep understanding of the needs of its customers. They have done a tremendous job building strong relationships with their customers and we remain committed to exceptional customer service and maintaining a first class fleet as we expand our presence in the European market.”
Separately this week, US rail group Genesee & Wyoming (G&W) agreed to buy rail freight operator Freightliner Group from Arcapita, which has been its majority shareholder since 2008. The US company will acquire approximately 95% of the shares for £490m.
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