Linklaters advises on Eurostar and Thalys financing packages
Linklaters has advised on major financing packages for Eurostar and Thalys.
The firm advised Eurostar on its refinancing package of £250m which mainly consists of additional equity and loans from a syndicate of banks guaranteed by the shareholders: SNCF, the French state railway group and Eurostar’s majority shareholder, Patina Rail, a consortium made up of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and funds managed by the Infrastructure team of Federated Hermes, and SNCB, the Belgian national train operator.
The refinancing package plays a key role in ensuring that Eurostar is able to continue providing essential services notwithstanding the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, at the same time enabling it to focus on restoring demand for travel on its core routes between London and Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.
The Linklaters team was led by partner Ian Andrews (Energy & Infrastructure, London) and managing associate Subir Rajadhyaksha (Energy & Infrastructure, London), supported by associate Deepika Sriram (Energy & Infrastructure, Dubai). Other members of the team comprised of Bertrand Andriani (Energy and Infrastructure, Paris) and Noémie Lisbonis Boyer (Energy & Infrastructure, Paris), Charles-Antoine Leunen and Hanne Delbare (Corporate and Finance, Brussels), Olu Atanda and Tanaya Rajwade (Energy & Infrastructure, London) and Divpriya Chawla (Energy & Infrastructure, Dubai),
Ian Andrews said:
“It was a privilege to work with the Eurostar team and its shareholders to complete this financing successfully. The success of this financing demonstrates the continued faith that banks have in Eurostar and its shareholders and is a major step in ensuring Eurostar remains on track and able to satisfy the needs of the countries and passengers it serves once demand for travel is restored to pre-COVID days.”
Thalys, the French-Belgian high-speed train operator has also completed a significant financing package, consisting of a €120m EUR facility to THI Factory SA, the operator of Thalys, owned by SNCB and SNCF.
Advising Thalys and its shareholders, the Linklaters team was led by partner Charles-Antoine Leunen (Corporate and Finance, Brussels) and junior associates Pierre Pettiaux and Delphine Collinet.
Linklaters has been at the forefront of major transactions in the railway sector for many years, with a dedicated global railway group specialising in the full range of railway and rolling stock transactions. The firm has unrivalled strength and experience on the development and project financing of international railways projects around the world.
