GLIL Infrastructure is buying a 30% stake in a rolling stock fleet of trains which operate out of London King’s Cross and connect with cities across the north of England and Scotland.
The £1.8bn (€2bn) infrastructure fund backed by a number of UK local government pension schemes is paying Hitachi Rail an undisclosed sum for the equity stake in Agility Trains East (ATE), the partnership which owns 65 new intercity trains.
ATE was established in partnership with the UK’s department for transport to develop the Intercity Express Programme (IEP), an initiative to replace the country’s fleet of intercity-class trains with a new reliable and efficient fleet.
In September, John Laing announced the sale of its 30% interest in the IEP project to AIP Management for a total cash consideration of up to £421m.
Upon completion, Hitachi Rail will hold a 40% stake in ATE with GLIL and AIP owning a 30% stake each.
Jonathan Ord, investment director at GLIL Infrastructure, said: “We’ve invested in the impressive ATE fleet to support that goal, but also to provide reliable and sustainable returns for our pension members for many years to come.
”Our very long-term investment horizon offers further assurance to this environmentally sustainable infrastructure asset.”
Dan Phillips, chief strategy officer at Hitachi Rail, said: “As we focus on our role as a full-service provider of rail infrastructure, we are pleased that GLIL sees the long-term investment value of Agility Trains East and we look forward to welcoming them as a shareholder.
”We will continue to maintain and operate the fleet for the remaining 27.5 years of the contract; there will be no impact on day-to-day operation of the railways as a result of this transaction.”
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