EUROPE: I Squared Capital Advisors’ acquisition of sole control of Arriva plc from Deutsche Bahn has been approved by the European Commission.
The Commission announced on January 8 that it had concluded the transaction would not raise competition concerns, given that the companies are not active in the same or vertically related markets. The notified transaction was examined under the EU Merger Regulation’s simplified review procedure.
DB acquired Arriva in 2010. The UK-based business now operates rail and other transport services in the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the UK, employing around 35 500 people and carrying 1·5 billion passenger-journeys/year.
DB announced its intention to sell Arriva as part of its Starke Schiene (‘Strong Rail’) strategy to focus its resources on Germany and its core business.
An agreement with US-based investor I Squared was announced on October 19 and the transaction is expected to complete this year.
