Consortium buys British train leasing company Porterbrook

A consortium of infrastructure investors, including the alternative investment arm of German insurance group Allianz, has taken over British rolling stock leasing company Porterbrook Rail Finance. The group, which includes Australian asset manager Hastings, Canada's Alberta Investment Management Corporation and EDF Invest of France, announced the deal late on Friday without indicating the price paid.
Porterbrook owns and manages about 5,900 passenger and freight vehicles, which it says represent around a third of Britain's passenger trains, and analysts have estimated its value at about 2 billion pounds ($3.2 billion). Allianz Capital Partners manages about 10 billion euros of alternative assets and is focusing on long-term stable returns from investments in infrastructure and renewable energy. The transaction is expected to close by the end of October, the consortium said in a statement. Porterbrook was previously owned by a consortium that included Deutsche Bank and funds OPTrust and Antin Infrastructure.