Dexia Credit, an arm of the French-Belgian bank, has won a
contract worth €149m with Conseil Rég Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur to
finance new rolling stock in the region.
The deal was signed on July 24 and covers the whole of the
lifespan of the fleet.
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“It is a very long term – the lease covers the whole-life of the
train, a total of 35 years,” said Bertrand Bocris, manager of
Dexia’s asset finance branch.
Dexia will finance 14 trains comprised of two different kinds of
rolling stock, DMUs and EMUs.
SNCF will operate the 10 EMUs, made by Bombardier which will run
throughout the throughout the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (PACA)
region as standard. The four DMUs, manufactured by CFD Bagneres,
are specialist trains intended for use on the ‘Trains de Pignes’
route, designed to run through the mountains connecting Nice to
Digne, and will be operated by Chemins De Fer De Provence, a small
rail company providing service on the 150km route.
The total value of the fleet is €89 million, while the extra €60
million making up the value of the contract comes from fees and
interest.
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By GlobalDataBocris has said he expects the lead time to be sometime between
the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010.
This is the third rolling stock deal Dexia has secured since it
originally branched out into the market in 2004. It signed a
similar deal in the PACA region in 2004, also with manufacturer
Bombardier. It was followed this year by rolling stock leased to
the Languedoc-Roussin region.
Bocris said: “We have been running this activity for quite a
long time. We are very happy this year, and we had two successes,
with the Languedoc-Roussin deal, and now PACA.”
Dexia puts its winning bid down to its experience, as well as
marketplace prominence.
Bocris commented: “We are the main business in public sector
finance, and the number one bank for regions in France. With
something like a 42 percent market share of financing the French
local public sector, it gives us good access to information and
very good access to people.”
Bocris also emphasised Dexia’s message of sustainability as
being key to its involvement in the rolling stock market.
“We are very interested in sustainable development, and of
course development of trains is something very important with
respect to this policy of sustainability,” he said.
“We are very keen to finance trains.”
The company is looking to Europe to continue financing rolling
stock and has mentioned a specific interest in London, Rome, and
Madrid.
