VTG Aktiengesellschaft announced that on October 1, the bidding consortium comprising railcar leasing firm Wascosa AG (Switzerland) and publicly traded Aves One AG (Germany) had already purchased those parts of the Nacco Group that needed to be sold to comply with conditions imposed by the German and Austrian antitrust authorities.
Nacco acquisition allows VTG to diversity its railcar portfolio and to further increase its availability for customers in Europe.
“The Nacco takeover will strengthen our market position in Europe for a long time to come. That’s why we are pleased to finally be able to close out the transaction – despite the reduced scope – and to reinforce our position as a potent, forward-looking partner for rail transportation,” Heiko Fischer, Chairman of the Executive Board of VTG Aktiengesellschaft said.
VTG is financing the transaction with a senior loan of some EUR 375 million, a privately placed hybrid bond of up to EUR 300 million and the utilization of an existing senior loan of approximately EUR 80 million. The hybrid bond will be refinanced on the capital market. To this end, a rights issue is planned to increase VTG’s capital out of authorized capital. The acquisition expected to contribute EUR 85 million to revenue and EUR 70 million to EBITDA in 2019.
The Nacco fleet that VTG has now acquired is formed by 11,000 freight cars covering all the most common segments. The key markets for this portfolio are the UK, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, France, Italy and Eastern Europe. Through this acquisition, VTG fleet grows from over 83,000 to more than 94,000 railcars.
In July 2017, VTG first announced its intention to acquire all shares in Paris-based CIT Rail Holdings (Europe) SAS, the owner of the Nacco Group, off the American CIT Group. The relevant antitrust authorities approved the acquisition at the end of March 2018, subject to certain conditions. The sale of a railcar package to the bidding consortium has now satisfied the antitrust requirements, VTG says.
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