International Public Partnerships says that BeNEX, its portfolio company, has successfully completed the acquisition of Abellio’s regional rail operations in Germany. BeNEX will become one of the largest providers of local rail passenger transport in Germany.
The trust owns all of BeNEX. BeNEX is an investor in both rolling stock and five train operating companies (TOCs) which operate regional passenger rail services across Germany under contract with numerous German federal states. The vast majority of the revenues generated by BeNEX are based on the availability of the service, with limited financial exposure to fluctuations in passenger numbers.
Before this deal, Abellio Germany principally comprised two TOCs generating largely availability-based revenues. The transaction, which sees BeNEX acquire 100% of Abellio Germany from the Dutch State Railway, will result in BeNEX having interests in seven TOCs and, from 2025, increasing its service volume from around 48m train kilometres per year to about 65m train kilometres per year.
INPP highlights that the deal further increases the company’s exposure to the decarbonisation of transport within Germany.
The cost of the investment is about £15m. International Public Partnerships believes that the projected economics of this investment are significantly more attractive, over the medium to long-term, relative to the economics of engaging in a share buyback.
The money for this came from previous sales of investments. The debt facility remains undrawn. INPP still has about £15m of long-standing investment commitments across the transport (Gold Coast Light Rail – Stage 3), education (Flinders University Health and Medical Research Building) and digital (toob) sectors. It is currently expected that the majority of these amounts will be invested over the period to 31 December 2025.
INPP : International Public Partnerships backs BeNEX to buy Abellio Germany