New money for SNCF. According to the echoesthe public company is very close to selling Akiem, a subsidiary it owns in equal parts with the asset manager DWS, and which offers 600 locomotives for freight trains for rent.
The Canadian CDPQ (Caisse de depot et de placement du Québec) would be the best placed for this operation, which could bring in between 2,500 and 3,000 million euros, of which half would go to the French operator.
asset disposals
The board of directors of the SNCF must still decide this Thursday on the operation. The transaction must also be validated by the German asset manager, adds the economic daily.
CDPQ already took over last year another SNCF subsidiary, Ermewa, which specializes in freight wagon rental and is a European leader in this field. “This operation translates into a reduction of the net debt of around 3,200 million euros for the SNCF group”, explained then its general director, Jean-Pierre Farandou.
That amount corresponds to the undisclosed sale price and to the assumption of Ermewa’s debt by its new owners, he said.
These disposals are in line with the objectives set by the Government for SNCF, namely to meet its financial objectives in 2024 and to sell assets to deflate its abysmal debt (38,000 million euros in 2021).
Source: BFM TV
