Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH (“KfW IPEX-Bank”), as on-lending bank, on the provision of a €100m KfW promotional loan to RAILPOOL GmbH (“RAILPOOL”). The financing was provided as part of KfW’s Programme 269 “Investment Loan for Sustainable Mobility” and will be used to order additional locomotives.
The new CAPEX facility, in which KfW IPEX-Bank functions as the sole lender, is integrated into RAILPOOL’s existing financing platform, where KfW IPEX-Bank already assumes all agency functions. Through this financing, KfW IPEX-Bank is supporting the shift of freight transport to rail, contributing to the decarbonisation of the transport sector.
Part of KfW Group, KfW IPEX-Bank is responsible for project and export finance. It supports German and European companies operating in key industrial sectors in global markets by structuring medium and long-term financing for their exports, funding infrastructure investments, securing supply of raw materials and financing environmental and climate change mitigation projects worldwide.
Munich-based RAILPOOL is one of the leading European leasing companies for rail vehicles. It operates in 19 European countries and owns a fleet of more than 600 electric and hybrid locomotives and 148 passenger cars representing a total investment of €2.7bn.
The WFW Frankfurt Transport team that advised KfW IPEX-Bank was led by Assets & Structured Finance Partner Frederik Lorenzen, supported by Counsel Andrey Latyshev and Associates Müyesser Demirel and Leon Rupp.
Frederik commented: “We are very grateful for the trust that the parties have once again placed in us. The transaction demonstrates that promotional loans can be successfully integrated into existing common terms frameworks to facilitate investment in sustainable rail mobility”.
