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MERGERS: AMO approved the takeover of company Cargo Wagon and freight railcars

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On May 12, 2015 the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic, Division of Concentrations approved the merger consisting in acquisition of indirect joint control by the undertakings VTG Aktiengesellschaft, Germany (VGT) and Solveq Funds SICAV plc Malta (SOLVEQ) over the undertaking Cargo Wagon a.s. (Cargo Wagon) and over freight railcars which will be embedded into the acquired company.

The undertaking VTG belongs to the VTG group acting mainly in the area of freight railcars leasing in the European area, in the North America, in Russia and in Asia, and it also acts in the area of railway transport logistics.

SOLVEQ is the investment company acting in the area of collective investment of its financials into securities or other movable or immovable property with the aim of spreading investment risks and provide investors a yield management of their funds. According to the Notification of concentration neither company SOLVEQ, nor its founders act in the area of freight railcars lease, own shares in companies which provide lease of freight railcars and act neither in vertically related activities.

In the time of the establishment of the merger concerned Cargo Wagon has not carried out any business and the undertaking ŽSSK Cargo was the only shareholder of undertaking Cargo Wagon.

By this merger the undertakings VTG and SOLVEQ acquire indirect joint control over the undertaking Cargo Wagon together with the assets in the form of 12 342 freight railcars, of which 8 216 rail freight railcars Cargo will lease back to ŽSSK Cargo for a long-term period. Of the remaining 4 126 railcars 3 074 railcars will be scrapped as they are inoperable and approximately 1 052 railcars will be leased.

Two basic types of undertaking provide leasing of freight railcars; the first one are (former) national railway carriers, the other one are private lessors (besides the company notifying merger also the companies Ermewa, Nacco, Gatx, Toudax), specializing in lease of freight railcars. In terms of geography, the lease freight railcars could be, in harmony with decision-making praxis of the European Commission, identified as the territory of Europe using network of standard track gauge (it means except the specified states).

Assessing both horizontal and vertical impacts of merger the Office did not identify any competition concerns in the area of providing leasing of freight railcars in the European market and it approved the merger.

The decision came into force on May 12, 2015.