Global Infrastructure Partners and ADIA Agree to Acquire 72.55% Interest in European Rail Logistics Company, VTG
LONDON, June 29, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Global Infrastructure Partners (“GIP”), a leading independent global infrastructure investor, is pleased to announce it has reached an agreement, alongside our partner the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (“ADIA”), to acquire a 72.55% equity interest in VTG Aktiengesellschaft (“VTG”), the leading European railcar lessor, from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Joachim Herz Stiftung.
Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, VTG is a leading international wagon hire and rail logistics company whose more than 88,500 railcars comprise the largest privately owned fleet in Europe. VTG’s diversified fleet and pan-European operations allow it to offer services to a wide range of customers across the industrial, logistics and railway undertaking sectors. The VTG platform provides a differentiated offering to its customers through ancillary capabilities, including rail logistics and repair and maintenance.
Adebayo Ogunlesi, Chairman and CEO of GIP said: “We are excited by this investment and the opportunity to leverage GIP’s deep industry expertise in the rail sector to build on a market-leading European transport infrastructure platform. This acquisition is aligned with GIP’s energy transition and decarbonisation strategy given significant government support for the European rail sector as one of the most cost-effective tools for delivering on net zero emissions targets. We look forward to partnering with ADIA to develop this unique platform.”
Khadem AlRemeithi, Executive Director of the Infrastructure Department at ADIA, said: “The growth of Europe’s rail freight market is backed by a modal shift to rail as a key enabler of the decarbonisation of supply chains. This investment in VTG aligns with our continued focus on pursuing infrastructure opportunities backed by strong energy transition-related tailwinds. For this transaction we have worked hand-in-hand with GIP, a long-standing partner, to invest in a market leading business with an established track record.”
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory closing conditions.
GIP and ADIA were advised by Deutsche Bank as sole financial advisers and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as legal counsel.
About Global Infrastructure Partners
GIP is a leading independent infrastructure fund manager that makes equity and debt investments in infrastructure assets and businesses. GIP targets investments in the energy, transport, digital infrastructure, and water/waste sectors in both OECD and select emerging market countries. Headquartered in New York, GIP operates out of 10 offices: New York, London, Stamford (Connecticut), Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore and Hong Kong. GIP manages c. US $84 billion for its investors. GIP’s portfolio companies have combined annual revenues of c. US $68 billion and employ c. 104,000 people. For more information, visit www.global-infra.com.
About ADIA
Established in 1976, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (“ADIA”) is a globally-diversified investment institution that prudently invests funds on behalf of the Government of Abu Dhabi through a strategy focused on long-term value creation. For more information: https://www.adia.ae.
