Our People

David Rose

Partner

David joined Rock Rail as a Partner in the origination team in September 2020.

He works within the origination team at Rock and is responsible for working with debt and equity investors to raise finance for new projects.  David’s particular focus is on rolling stock and zero emission bus projects in the UK.

David joined Rock following a 20-year career as a financial adviser and lender in the UK, European and North American infrastructure space.  In particular, he advised the Rock team on their first five greenfield deals and was instrumental in developing new ways to finance rolling stock in the UK.  Prior to joining Rock, David led the award winning financial advisory team at Operis.  Over the course of his career he has also worked for Royal Bank of Canada, Deloitte and PwC.

Notable transactions

Rail

  • Rock Rail West Coast – financial adviser to the team that closed the >£350m funding of 135 new Hitachi electric and bi-mode vehicles for use on the West Coast Partnership franchise.
  • Rock Rail East Midlands – financial adviser on Rock’s successful bid for the £400m financing of a new 165 vehicle fleet of Hitachi intercity bi-mode trains. This transformative transaction was closed within a remarkable 22 days of Rock being appointed preferred funder.
  • Rock Rail South Western – financial adviser to the Rock team that delivered a £1bn financing for Rock Rail’s South Western trains project – the transaction is the largest unrated privately placed infrastructure transaction in the UK market, and also the largest greenfield institutional investor project.
  • Rock Rail East Anglia – financial adviser to Rock on the funding of a fleet of 378 new electric and bi mode trains manufactured by Stadler and leased to Greater Anglia. This financing incorporated the EIB – the first time the EIB has participated in a UK rolling stock transaction without government guarantees and was closed in the volatile markets after the Brexit vote.
  • Rock Rail Moorgate – financial adviser to Rock on the funding of a fleet of 150 new electric multiple units to be manufactured by Siemens and leased to Govia Thameslink Railways. This was a highly competitive bid, closed in 35 days from preferred bidder.

Transport

Zero Emission Bus

  • Route 111, London – led the financing and commercial workstream for Rock Road on its maiden deal in the zero emission bus space.  Rock purchased 30 Wrightbus Electroliners to lease to Abellio (now Transport UK) to run on Route 111 between Kingston and Heathrow in west London.

Other Transport

  • N18, Netherlands – financial adviser to the winning consortium for this EUR 100m PPP scheme for 27km of new highway between Groenlo and Enschede in the Netherlands.

Healthcare

  • New Karolinska Hospital, Sweden – financial adviser to the successful bidder on this SEK 14bn healthcare PPP in Solna near Stockholm.  This landmark financing brought together EIB, NIB and commercial banks in the largest ever long term financing in SEK.
  • Fife Hospital, Scotland – financial adviser to the winning consortium on this £200m UK healthcare PPP project.  The debt was raised in the aftermath of the global financial crisis  which made this a challenging project.
  • Primary Care Centres, Ireland – financial adviser to the winning bidder on this €140m project to procure 14 new primary care centres in Ireland.  This pathfinder project was the first of its type and the first PPP procured by HSE in Ireland.

Education

  • Priority Schools Programme, UK – acted as financial adviser to various consortia bidding for the five bundles which made up the Priority Schools programme in the UK including the winning bid on the Midlands bundle.  This scheme involved innovative financing with senior debt provided by an aggregator vehicle.
  • Building Schools for the Future Programme, UK – acted as financial adviser to the private sector on a large number of primary bids including closed deals in Essex, Ealing and Oldham.  Also acted for a number of local authorities including Birmingham City Council.
  • University of Essex Refinancing – advised the SPV on the refinancing of the debt for this major student accommodation PPP which resulted in a major refinancing gain shared between the public and private sectors.

Power

  • Ghent Biomass, Belgium – acted as financial adviser on this 19.9 MW biomass to energy plant.  The project raised both equity and senior debt at financial close and is funded by a combination of power revenues and green certificates

Defence

  • Future Strategic Aircraft Tanker (FSTA) PPP – acted as senior lender on this major £1bn+ defence PPP which procured aircraft capable of refuelling whilst in flight.