THE European Commission (EC) has approved, under the European Union Merger Regulation, the acquisition of sole control of German Rail’s (DB) British-based subsidiary Arriva by I Squared Capital Advisors, United States.
DB signed an agreement to sell its entire Arriva contract operating business to the private equity company in October 2023, but the deal was subject to ratification by the EC.
The EC has now concluded that “the notified transaction would not raise competition concerns, given that the companies are not active in the same or vertically related markets.” It added that the notified transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure.
The transaction is expected to complete this year, at an undisclosed sum, and will be implemented by way of purchase of shares of the entire share capital of Arriva.
Arriva’s rail portfolio includes its UK Trains and Netherland businesses, as well as regional operating contracts in the Czech Republic that form part of its Mainland Europe business.
DB says that disposing of Arriva forms part of its Strong Rail Group strategy to focus resources on its core domestic business and “enable additional growth in rail transport in Germany.”
