Die Deutsche Bahn verkauft ihre Auslandstochtergesellschaft Arriva. Alle verbliebenen Teile des Unternehmens würden vollständig an den amerikanischen Infrastruktur-Investor I Squared Capital veräußert, teilte die Bahn am Donnerstag in Berlin mit.
A purchase agreement was signed during the night on Thursday. The transaction is expected to be completed within the next year. Prior to that, approval from the company’s supervisory board and the government as the owner is still required. Arriva operates buses and trains in the UK and ten other European markets.
According to media reports, the investor specialized in infrastructure projects is paying approximately 1.6 billion euros for Arriva. The railway company initially did not comment on the amount. They acquired Arriva in 2010, including debts, for about 2.7 billion euros.
Schulden von rund einer Milliarde Euro
The subsidiary still has a debt of around one billion euros – obligations that will now be transferred to the new owner. In addition, the railway would have had to invest large sums in the electrification of Arriva’s bus fleets and the overall renovation of the company in the coming years. Money that is now intended to be used for the railway’s core business.
„I cannot reword“
Arriva gehört unter anderem zu den Betreibern der roten Doppelstockbusse in Englands Hauptstadt London. Gekauft hatte die Bahn das Unternehmen unter dem damaligen Bahnchef Rüdiger Grube. Schon damals stieß die Transaktion auf breite Kritik: Der Grünen-Politiker Anton Hofreiter sprach 2010 von „Größenwahn“.
The ongoing criticism suggests that instead of further expanding abroad, the railway company should focus on its core business on the German rail. In fact, the company has been searching for ways to get rid of Arriva for several years. At one point, an initial public offering was also considered.
Prospective buyers were few and far between. Arriva had long been seen as an unattractive investment. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the foreign subsidiary had suffered economically. A special write-down of 1.4 billion euros in the first half of 2020 significantly contributed to the overall group’s pandemic-related losses. As a result, the railway company replaced the then Arriva CEO, Manfred Rudhard.
The subsidiary has since somewhat recovered. In the first half of this year, Arriva generated an operating profit before taxes and interest (EBIT) of 43 million euros. Recently, the company has focused more on its core markets and has already divested activities in countries such as Sweden, Portugal, Denmark, Serbia, and Poland in recent years.
Arriva und Schenker stehen für eine Zeit, in der die Bahn mit milliardenschweren Zukäufen unter Bahnchef Hartmut Mehdorn und seinem Nachfolger Rüdiger Grube versuchte, zum weltweiten Logistik- und Verkehrskonzern, einem Global Player, aufzusteigen.