On April 7 Czech holding company Czechoslovak Group became the sole owner of Dako-CZ, buying Tatravagonka Poprad’s 49% stake in the supplier of pneumatic, electromechanical and hydraulic brake systems and components for rolling stock. Lukáš Andrýsek has been appointed as Dako-CZ’s new CEO, replacing Dagmar Matúšová.
VTG and Imateq Italia have established a joint locomotive and wagon maintenance workshop at the Katoen Natie Logistics Interport site at Rivalta Scrivia in Italy. ‘Our workforce is structured to ensure quality and short standing times, giving it a competitive edge’, said Steffen Gahtow, Head of Maintenance & Procurement at VTG
The US Federal Railroad Administration is working with Jack Faucett Associates and the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center to conduct an electronic, invitation-only survey of small, minority-owned and woman-owned businesses to determine whether the playing field is level for firms aspiring to win subcontracts from grantees receiving federal funds. FRA will submit the results to Congress in a report, allowing members to determine the need for a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise programme.
African infrastructure investor Harith General Partners has announced a US$200m capital raise in a follow-up fund to its Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund 2, which owns companies including Traxtion. The PAIDF 2 Infrastructure Top Up Fund is a shorter term vehicle (five to six years) that is being established to take advantage of very near-term expansion opportunities in some of the best performing PAIDF 2 companies.
Stanton Bonna was renamed Stanton Precast Ltd on April 12. The compay is part of European concerete sleeper group Sateba, which is owned by private equity investment fund TowerBrook Capital Partners.
Atos, Dassault Systèmes, Groupe Renault, STMicroelectronics and Thales have launched Software République, an open ecosystem for intelligent and sustainable mobility which is open to new members and collaboration. The companies said pooling complementary expertise in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, connectivity, embedded electronics and virtual twin technology was a matter of sovereignty for France and Europe, because ’major industrial players on other continents, with state support, are already positioning themselves to develop many of these new technologies through enhanced integration strategies’.
Xrail Group has opened an office at in Thorpe Park near Leeds to accommodate rapid growth in northern England.
Bentley Systems has acquired INRO Software, which supplies multimodal transportation planning, traffic simulation and visualisation software to customers including Transport for London, Transport for New South Wales, the Washington State Department of Transportation, Trafikverket, and São Paulo’s SPTrans.
On April 12 Eurofima successfully priced a €250m 20-year Green Bond, which is its longest outstanding maturity. The transaction marked Eurofima’s first visit to the primary market in 2021 as well as its first Green Bond issuance since the update of its Green Bond Framework published on April 7. The proceeds will be utilised for lending to railways to invest in electric passenger transport in accordance with the GBF, which has received a Second-Party Opinion from Sustainalytics.
