Rock Rail was awarded preferred funder for new Hitachi Intercity trains for the West Coast Partnership rail franchise, with a transaction value in excess of £350 million. First Group and Trenitalia’s new Avanti West Coast took over operation in December 2019, shortly after financial close was reached earlier that month.

The new state-of-the-art fleet will be built at Hitachi’s Newton Aycliffe factory supporting businesses and workforces across the UK supply chain and will enter service in 2022. The 135-vehicle fleet is made up of 10 seven-carriage electric trains and 13 five-carriage bi-mode trains, which are quieter and greener than the diesel trains they replace.

Rock Rail and partner Aberdeen Standard Investments provided the equity investment, while senior debt was provided by institutional investors with a funder group comprising of Aviva Investors and Sun Life Investments.

Rock Rail was awarded the financing deal for provision of new rolling stock by Abellio UK for use on the East Midlands Railway franchise. Rock Rail led the £400 million transaction with partner Japan Infrastructure Initiative who now merged into Mitsubishi HC Capital Inc., reaching financial close in August 2019, within 22 days of being selected as preferred funder.

The state-of-the-art bi-mode intercity fleet is being manufactured by Hitachi. It will be greener and quieter than the diesel trains it replaces which are some of the oldest diesel vehicles still in use in the UK. The 33 five-carriage units will begin operation in 2022.

As with Rock Rail’s 3 previous new rolling stock deals debt has been provided by UK and international institutional investors.

East Midlands Tax Strategy Dec-2023

Rock Rail provided financing to the winning train operating company, South Western Railway, a joint venture between FirstGroup and MTR. First MTR was selected by the DfT in April 2017 enabling Rock and First MTR to jointly select the preferred manufacturer; Bombardier.

Building on its precedent transaction structure, Rock was able to broaden and deepen the funding available, and complete the £1bn transaction within 3 months of the announcement of franchise award. The equity was provided by Rock Rail, SL Capital and GLIL Infrastructure, while the debt was provided by an expanded group of institutional investors.

Rock Rail was awarded preferred funder for Regional and Inter-City fleets for the selected Train Operating Company, Abellio Greater Anglia, who was awarded the franchise by the Department for Transport in August 2016. Rock’s previous deal experience on the Great Northern Route, innovative contractual structure and well established team of advisers, allowed Rock to reach completion on the c£700m transaction in 41 days, in October ‘16.

The renowned Swiss manufacturer, Stadler, was chosen for its excellent reputation for quality and on time delivery to design and manufacture the 58 trains (378 vehicles) with a combination of Intercity Electrical Multiple Units and Regional Bi-mode Multiple units.

Equity investment was provided by Rock and partners SL Capital Partners and GLIL Infrastructure, and debt was provided by a broader base of institutional investors and the European Investment Bank, its first UK investment post the Brexit decision.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) won the tender to operate its replacement suburban train fleet on the Great Northern route.
Rock Rail won GTR’s competitive financing competition for the purchase of Siemens trains and closed the £300m transaction in February 2016 within 33 days of being awarded preferred financier status. Rock and partner SL Capital Partners provided equity investment and Aviva provided the debt investment.

The first of the 25 climate-controlled six-carriage units (150 vehicles) will enter service in 2018 and the fleet will replace the oldest type of electric train in operation in mainland Britain, the Class 313 trains built 1976-77.