Dechert advises CIT on the sale of its European Rail Business Group, NACCO

A multi-disciplinary team from Dechert LLP’s London, Paris, Munich, Frankfurt, Brussels and Luxembourg offices advised CIT Group Inc. on the sale of its European rail leasing business NACCO Group to VTG Aktiengesellschaft and consortium of buyers consisting of Wascosa AG and a subsidiary of Aves One AG for approximately US$1.1 billion at current exchange rates. The sale was completed in two separate transactions and included a total of approximately 15,400 rail cars. 

CIT announced plans for the sale of NACCO to VTG in July 2017. In Spring 2018, the German Federal Cartel Office and the Austrian Antitrust Court approved the sale on the condition that 30 per cent of the NACCO business would be sold to an eligible third party. In a transaction which closed on October 1, 2018, the team advised CIT on the divestiture of NACCO’s operations and assets in Germany and Luxembourg, which included approximately 4,400 rail cars, to a consortium of buyers consisting of Wascosa AG and a subsidiary of Aves One AG as required by the German and Austrian regulatory authorities.  Following such divestiture, CIT completed the sale of the remainder of NACCO, including approximately 11,000 rail cars, to VTG yesterday.

The multi-jurisdictional Dechert team advising long-standing client CIT Group was led by London-based corporate partner Douglas Getter and associate Ross Montgomery. The team also included: London Partners - Philip Butler (Finance), Mark Stapleton (Tax), Adam Silver (Litigation) and Associates - Joshua Smith (Corporate), Tony Brown (Corporate), Smridhi Gulati (Finance), Amy Rees (Corporate), Nicolas Kokkinos (Tax), Daniel Hawthorne (Tax), Rose Limaye (Corporate), Emma Zarb (Labour), Susanna Cocksedge (Litigation) and Alexis Westwood (Labour); Paris Partners - Philippe Thomas (Labour), Ermine Bolot-Massé (Corporate), Mélanie Thill-Tayara (Competition) and Isabelle Marguet (Corporate) and Associates -Laudine Daniel (Labour), Magali Stuber (Corporate), Pierre-Henri Brieau (Corporate) and Ibrahim Cheikh Hussein (Labour); Brussels Partner - Alec Burnside (Competition); Munich Partners - Giovanni Russo (Corporate) and Dr. Olaf Fasshauer (Data Privacy) and Associates - Sonja Feser (Corporate) and Dr. Karl von Rumohr (Corporate); Frankfurt Partner - Dr. Hans Jürgen Meyer-Lindemann (Competition) and Associate - Thirith von Döhren (Competition); and Luxembourg Partner - Jean-Louis Frognet (Corporate) and Associate - Gwendoline Licata (Corporate).