AUSTRALIA: A 50:50 consortium of DIF Capital Partners and Amber Infrastructure Group has agreed to acquire locomotive and wagon leasing and maintenance company Rail First from Anchorage Capital Partners.
The transaction announced on September 5 is expected to close by the end of October, subject to approval by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.
Amber, which owns Poland’s Cargounit and is a long-term investor in the UK’s Angel Trains, said Rail First had Australia’s third largest intermodal fleet with more than 1 300 locomotives and wagons, and it is the only domestic manufacturer of intermodal wagons, providing the ability to meet individual customer requirements with a ‘build to lease’ offering.
DIF said the acquisition provides ‘unique access to Australia’s attractive rail leasing market’, with a ‘blue-chip customer base’, a well-diversified product mix and typical leases of three to five years.
It said Rail First’s ‘resilient’ business model was demonstrated during Covid-19 pandemic, when intermodal volumes remained steady. The company is also expected to benefit from long-term trends including the development of the Inland Rail project between Melbourne and Brisbane and growing demand for lower emissions from transport.
Rail First Chairman and Anchorage Partner Beau Dixon said ‘prior to Anchorage’s acquisition, Rail First was an underperforming, non-core asset and a highly successful change programme was implemented under Anchorage’s ownership. Repositioning Rail First’s strategic direction, bringing in world-class management, and fixing the bottom line sustainably has delivered a high performing asset manager with a resilient business model.’
Rothschild & Co acted as financial adviser, Gilbert + Tobin acted as legal counsel and PwC acted as accounting and tax adviser to Anchorage.
