SLOVENIA: National railway holding company Slovenske Železnice and the EP Logistic International subsidiary of Praha-based energy, infrastructure and logistics group EP Holding have signed an investment and shareholder agreement to form a strategic partnership to take over the state railway’s freight activities.
The parties are to create a 51:49 joint venture to which SŽ will contribute a 100% share of rail freight operator SŽ-Tovorni Promet and multi-modal logistics business Fersped, with EP Logistics International contributing an unspecified amount of cash.
‘Both partners have the ambition to jointly turn the joint venture company into a major rail and logistics operator in southeastern Europe, unlocking the full potential of SŽ-TP and Fersped assets’, said EPLI Chairman Tomáš Novotný on December 18.
‘The underlying plan is to service region-wide customers through its own licensed structures operating modern and efficient rail hardware such as multi-system locomotives, and to create a profitable, cost efficient and dividend-paying business.’
In addition to the Slovenian domestic market, the joint will target Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia& Herzegovina, Montenegro, Italy, Austria and Hungary. Plans include increasing the prominence of the Slovenian port of Koper as a local cargo hub.
EPLI said that it was willing to commit additional financing to the joint venture should opportunities for expansion arise.
EP Holding was the only company that submitted a binding offer to form a joint venture, in a process which has been underway since 2017. The national railway holding company is legally obliged to retain at least a 50% plus one share stake in all of its businesses, and so the state will remain the indirect majority owner of the freight operator.
