Ashurst advises banks and investors
04 January 2023
Ashurst advised investors from Talanx insurance group as well as NORD/LB, with the participation of DAL Deutsche Anlagen-Leasing and OstseeSparkasse Rostock, on the financing of carbon neutral tramways to be used in the local transport of Rostock / Germany. In total, the consortium partners provided funding of approx. €90m.
Subsequently, Ashurst advised OstseeSparkasse Rostock, with the participation of NORD/LB and DAL Deutsche Anlagen-Leasing, on the financing of the general overhaul of 10 tramways, which constitutes a separate financing of the 38 tramways to be renewed by Rostocker Straßenbahn AG (RSAG) for the local transport in Rostock.
The financing encompasses the procurement of a total of 28 new tramways powered with 100% green electricity by way of two refinanced fixed-interest loans and a revolving loan as well as the issuance of registered bonds. The new tramways will be manufactured by Stadler, a Swiss traditional company, and are scheduled to begin operations in 2025. The financing of the new tramways represents another important step towards maintaining and further developing a climate-friendly public transport in Rostock.
RSAG operates the public transport in Rostock on the basis of a directly awarded public service contract. Unlike the usual practice in public sector financing, this is the first time a financing of tramways was provided by banks and investors, thus supporting sustainable mobility solutions.
The Ashurst team was led by senior associate Alexandra Heitmann and partner Derk Opitz. They were assisted by associate Patrick Rauch and senior transaction lawyer Ariana Fazlic (all Project Finance). The legal due diligence for the financiers was conducted by partner Dr Benedikt von Schorlemer (Corporate Transaction), counsel Holger Mlynek (Transport), senior associate Dr Simon Groneberg (Infrastructure) and associate Friederike Preyer (Corporate Transactions).
Ashurst's German project finance practice regularly advises on asset finance transactions in the context of regional rail passenger transport financings and now for the first time also in the area of tramway financing.