Ashurst advised global infrastructure fund manager DIF Capital Partners (DIF) on the acquisition, through its DIF Core Infrastructure Fund II (CIF II), of a 49 per cent. stake in Touax Rail Limited (Touax Rail), a European rail freight leasing company with the current sole shareholder Touax SCA, a member of Touax Group, by means of a capital increase in the amount of EUR 81.9 million.
Touax Rail is offering solutions for leasing rail equipment such as intermodal, car carrying, hopper, box and tank wagons. Services offered comprise leasing, sale and maintenance of freight railcars. Touax Rail has a fleet size of circa 6,930 owned platforms and circa 4,080 managed platforms.
The capital increase is intended to be used primarily to finance the acquisition of new wagons and to buy out minority shareholders. The transaction is subject to approval by the German antitrust authorities. Parties expect to close the transaction by the end of September.
The Ashurst team was led by corporate partner Dr Benedikt von Schorlemer and project partner Dr Maximilian Uibeleisen, who were supported by an international transaction team around counsel Holger Mlynek and senior associate Dr Valentin Pfisterer (all Frankfurt). Holger Mlynek also advised on rail and commercial law matters. Dr Valentin Pfisterer and counsel Dr Ian Maywald (Munich) advised on corporate law matters. Counsel Nikolos Tsagareli and associate Dr Simon Groneberg (both Frankfurt) were involved regarding finance and civil law aspects. Partner Ute Zinsmeister and counsel Dr Maria Held (both Munich) advised on antitrust law aspects. The broader European Ashurst team comprised, inter alia, partner David Du Pont and associates Yana Paulovich, Jörg Heirman and Clement Dekemexhe (all Brussels) advising on Belgian law aspects, partners Vincent Trevisani and Muriel Pariente, senior associates Mariana Simon and Laura Berdugo-Donnersberg and associate Lisa Vivent (all Paris) advising on French law matters, and partners Patrick Boyle, Terence Van Poortvliet and Nick Rainsford, senior associate Adam Skibsted and associates Grahame Fischer and Lu Wilson (all London) advising on UK law aspects.
The Ashurst team was further supported by transaction teams of Irish law firm William Fry advising on Irish law matters and Indian law firm J. Sagar Associates advising on Indian law aspects.
