Head of the Board of Directors of Globaltrans Sergei Maltsev on M&A and forecasts

The companies that changed hands in recent months entered the railway industry at approximately the same time, and the profit-taking point was also reached at the same time. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Globaltrans shared his views on the prerequisites for an unprecedented series of major transactions in the field of operating wagons with Kommersant. Sergey Maltsev, who sold his stake in the company in January.

— In your opinion, what is the reason for such a large series of transactions with assets in the field of operating railway rolling stock right now? Is this a coincidence or a trend?

— Any investment has a profit-taking point. And in the case when we are talking about companies that were created approximately in the same time period (15-20 years ago) and in the same competitive environment, for many this point has become the present. And here I would not be tied to specific examples – each of the transactions must be considered individually.

As for our deal, the key advantages of Globaltrans, in addition to large assets in the key segments of gondola cars for the New Transportation Company and tanks for Balttransservice, are the high share of service contracts. This, coupled with a historically conservative approach to fleet procurement, guarantees high profitability of the asset in the future.

— Do you think the deals will continue, or is the process over?

— I think that there are still second- and third-tier deals to come in the universal fleet segment. Consolidation among container shipping players will continue. It seems logical to consolidate players in the segment of operating rolling stock for oil loading – for specific consumers.

—What are your own plans?

— By agreement with the current majority shareholder, he intends to continue working in the Globaltrans group and be nominated to the board of directors after redomiciliation to Abu Dhabi. I don’t plan to leave the railway business because this is what I live for, and, by and large, I don’t know how to do anything else. I plan to develop my container assets.

— How do you assess the prospects for transportation in the universal fleet?

— The gondola car fleet grew in response to shippers’ needs for additional rolling stock, caused by a decrease in the car turnover rate. The basis of this process is the lag in the development of infrastructure needs from the dynamics of cargo flows. Solving this problem quickly is unrealistic. The necessary infrastructure development will take at least another five to ten years.

Is it possible to speed up this process? No. Because even now maximum funding is allocated. In addition, expanding the scale of construction even further will inevitably limit existing capacity.

The current cost of gondola cars from manufacturers and the value of the Central Bank rate also do not stimulate excess investment in rolling stock. Thus, I assess the prospects for transportation in the universal fleet, despite certain inevitable fluctuations, positively.

Interviewed by Natalya Skorlygina