Sunderland transport giant Arriva - one of the North East’s largest companies - has been sold to a multinational investment group.
The bus and train operator has been sold by its German owners Deutsche Bahn AG to I Squared Capital, a Miami-based group that invests in global infrastructure and has assets around the world. The deal is expected to complete next year, subject to approval from the Deutsche Bahn supervisory board and the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport.
It has been reported that the deal would value the bus and train operator at around 1.6 billion euros. Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned German railway company, had been looking to offload Arriva for a number of years to focus on its core operations. It acquired the Sunderland-based firm, which operates buses and trains around the 海角视频 and in a number of overseas countries in 2010.
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Dr Levin Holle, member of the management board for finance and logistics and CFO of Deutsche Bahn AG: “We are happy that I Squared is willing to support Arriva in its future growth. Arriva has good prospects for sustainable growth as market liberalisation in Europe progresses. The strategic goal of Deutsche Bahn is to make record level investments in environmentally friendly rail in our core business combined with the massive increase of investment of the German Federal Government into our German rail infrastructure.
“The purchase agreement signed is therefore in the spirit of Strong Rail. At the same time, the sale to I Squared will give Arriva new options to support its growth potential, for example for the future electrification of European fleets. For us, the agreed sale is an important step to focus even more on additional growth in rail transport in Germany.”
I Squared has extensive interests around the world in infrastructure companies, including transport, logistics, energy, utilities, and digital infrastructure.
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Gautam Bhandari, global CIO and managing partner of I Squared, said: “Transport accounts for around one-fifth of global CO₂ emissions. Three-quarters of this is from road transport, and a greener public transport sector is critical to the shift to lower-carbon infrastructure.
“Arriva’s strategy for net-zero operations and the decarbonisation of its fleet aligns with our strategy to develop and scale assets with technologies that accelerate the energy transition, as well as providing cleaner air in cities and towns by investing in green public transport. We are excited to work with Arriva and we will invest to support its future growth as a major European bus and rail operator.”
Mike Cooper, CEO of Arriva Group, said: “We want to see a future where people choose to leave their car at home, a future with less traffic congestion and cleaner air. This transaction marks an exciting next stage for us, and will deliver significant benefits for our colleagues, our passengers and the many passenger transport authorities we partner with across Europe, enabling us to play our role in delivering a better future.
“I Squared has an established track record of supporting companies which provide essential services, and of investing in the energy transition. We are delighted that they have committed to provide Arriva with long-term capital for investment in innovation across our services, our assets, and our people. We’re confident that Arriva and I Squared together can play a vital role in delivering innovative and sustainable public transport offerings across Europe.”
Arriva has its headquarters in Sunderland and is one of the North East’s largest companies by turnover, having a workforce of more than 35,000 people in countries around Europe. It operates some local bus services in the North East but lost the Northern rail franchise in 2020.
The company was originally established as TSK Cowie in Sunderland in 1938 as a secondhand motorcycle dealer, before being relaunched as a car dealership with a vehicle hire division. It became involved in the bus sector amid deregulation in the 1980s and renamed itself as Arriva in 1997.