Background

  • Agility Trains West (ATW) was established in 2012 to finance, own and maintain 57 Hitachi class 800 trains that form the first phase of the Intercity Express Programme (IEP)
  • IEP is a £5.7bn government-led rolling stock programme to build and maintain 122 new intercity trains for the East Coast and Great Western main lines

Process

  • DC Advisory was engaged by the Consortium comprising Dalmore Capital (Dalmore), Equitix Investment Management (Equitix), Japan Infrastructure Initiative (JII) and Rock Rail (Rock) to act as financial adviser providing buy-side M&A and debt advice on the acquisition of a 30% stake in ATW, recognising DC’s extremely strong expertise and knowledge in the UK rail sector
  • DC provided comprehensive financial advisory services to the Consortium throughout the acquisition process including:
    • Financial modelling and valuation;
    • Structuring;
    • Process;
    • Consortium management and support in negotiations with the seller, including the transaction documents.
  • DC also advised on:
    • Debt strategy;
    • Debt structuring;
    • Documentation negotiation and full execution;
    • Successfully supported the Consortium in delivering a fully financed transaction on a certain funds basis with the debt financing provided by long-dated “MidCo” index linked private placement lenders, a first for an acquisition financing in the UK.

Outcome

  • DC ensured all workstreams were successfully completed and guided the Consortium to win in the competitive auction process
  • On 1 November 2018, the Consortium announced the signing of the acquisition of a 30% stake in ATW
  • The deal closed on 18 December 2018

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