Beacon Rail Acquires Ascendos Rail Leasing
LONDON, BOSTON and NEW YORK, June 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
Beacon Rail Leasing ("Beacon"), a leading Pan-European rolling stock lessor, is pleased to announce that it has closed on the acquisition of Ascendos Rail Leasing S.à r.l. ("Ascendos"), a European locomotive and rolling stock leasing company, after having received clearance with the German competition authorities.
The combined Beacon and Ascendos portfolio includes 225 locomotives and over 1,000 freight wagons on lease in the UK, Scandinavia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Germany, 55 passenger train units on lease in the UK and Germany, 67 double decker coaches on lease in Denmark, and 13 sets of Mark 5 coaches which will be operated by TransPennine Express in the UK.
Commenting on the closing, Ted Gaffney, Chief Executive Officer of Beacon, said: "The closing on the acquisition of Ascendos marks the beginning of a new chapter for Beacon Rail. We are committed to providing quality, state of the art rolling stock to the UK and European freight and passenger markets and welcome the Ascendos employees to the Beacon family."
Pamplona Capital Management ("Pamplona") acquired Beacon in May 2014 through Pamplona Capital Partners III, LP, a 2011 vehicle with $2.7 billion of committed capital. Since closing, Beacon has been an active acquirer of assets through portfolio acquisitions, the placement of new build orders and the closing of sale / leaseback transactions with various freight and passenger operators, significantly increasing the scale of the portfolio and diversifying both the lessee and asset base.
Committed debt financing for the transaction has been provided by ING Bank and Deutsche Bank AG, London Branch. Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP and Lowenstein Sandler LLP acted as legal counsel for Beacon and Pamplona. Clifford Chance LLP acted as legal counsel for the lenders.
About Beacon Rail Leasing
Beacon Rail Leasing is a rolling stock leasing company focused on serving the UK and continental European markets. Beacon Rail Leasing has an industry leading management team with rail asset management expertise and capital markets experience, enabling it to meet the equipment needs of its Pan European customer base. Please visit http://www.beaconrail.com for more information.
About Pamplona Capital Management
Pamplona Capital Management is a London and New York based specialist investment manager established in 2005 that provides an alternative investment platform across private equity, fund of hedge funds and single manager hedge fund investments. Pamplona manages over USD $10.0 billion in assets across a number of funds for a variety of clients including public pension funds, international wealth managers, multinational corporations, family offices and funds of hedge funds. Pamplona is currently managing its fourth private equity fund, Pamplona Capital Partners IV, LP, which was raised in 2014. Pamplona invests long-term capital across the capital structure of its portfolio companies in both public and private market situations. Please visit http://www.pamplonafunds.com for more information.
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