Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Alpha Trains on its €1.3bn debt raise through a combination of rated private placement debt and bank debt under their existing common terms platform, for the refinancing of its existing debt as well as raising additional debt for CapEx and growth.
A significant amount of the capital raised is expected to be used for financing various green assets.
Alpha Trains is a Luxembourg-based rolling stock operating lessor active in 22 jurisdictions across Europe and with an existing portfolio of more than 1,000 locomotives and passenger trains.
The WFW cross-border team advising Alpha Trains was led by London Assets and Structured Finance Partner Louise Mor, working closely with Senior Associate Sarah Lunn and Associates Alice Lightfoot, Joeii Leung, Ella Vries, Tom Coates, Ugo Onwumelu and Lukas Markfort. London Partner Rob McBride advised on hedging aspects. Frankfurt Partner Frederik Lorenzen and Senior Associate Alexander Piepenbrock, Paris Partner Philippe Monfort and Associate Hugues Hounkpati, Madrid Partner Alfredo Cabellos and Senior Associate Daniel Refoyo, Milan Partner Mario D’Ovidio and Associate Daniele Sani, and New York Partner Will Vogel advised on German, French, Spanish, Italian and New York law aspects respectively.
Louise commented: “We are very pleased to have advised long-standing client Alpha Trains on this major financing. This was a complex cross-border deal involving multiple lender groups and jurisdictions which showcases the depth of WFW’s offering across multiple offices and demonstrates the value we are able to provide to our clients on big-ticket rail finance transactions”.
