UK: Austrian railway construction and maintenance contractor Swietelsky has acquired 100% of the shares of locomotive hire, storage and maintenance company Harry Needle Railroad Co.
The purchase for a ‘eight-figure sum’ will enable founder Harry Needle to realise his majority share in the business and take on a new role in asset management within HNRC Swietelsky. It also provides an exit for main funder Frontier Development Capital.
The deal expands the UK network of Swietelsky, which operates sites in Reading, Manchester and Glasgow through a joint venture with Babcock. Swietelsky CEO Peter Krammer said ‘this strategic step not only enables us to expand our market position in the area of operate and maintain contracts for Network Rail, but also to significantly increase our capacities for machine overhauls and future innovations such as the conversion of rail vehicles to European train control systems.’
HNRC was established in 1999. It began by recovering spares from redundant rolling stock, and went on to acquire a fleet of locomotives for hire.
In 2019, with backing from FDC, it acquired a 14 ha former DB Cargo depot site in Worksop and invested £8m so it can accommodate up to 20 vehicles per week for repair, refurbishment, and maintenance. Together with the original site in Chesterfield, HNRC can store up to 700 vehicles.
Since acquiring the Worksop site, HNRC has grown turnover by 600%. It has around 30 staff across the two sites and offers locomotive hire and storage services to companies including Alstom, Porterbrook and Southeastern.
HNRC ‘was already successful but with the acquisition of the Worksop site, it began a new era that saw it become a leader in its field’, said FDC Investment Director Jack Glonek on January 14.
Rail consultancy RASIC advised HNRC on the sale.
