How Freight One will develop after the change of owner

The first cargo company (PGK) of Vladimir Lisin passed to a new owner – JSC Aurora Invest, whose co-owners are called brothers Timur and Ruslan Babaev in the market. The transaction amount, according to market sources, exceeded 200 billion rubles. According to Kommersant’s interlocutors, part of the park will be withdrawn from Freight One. But nevertheless, experts note, the deal will not lead to a weakening, but a strengthening of Freight One’s positions due to an increase in the market component in the business and synergy with the assets of the new owners, including in the container segment.

Vladimir Lisin’s First Freight Company, one of the two largest railway operators in the Russian Federation, changed its owner on November 1, two sources familiar with the situation told Kommersant. Kommersant reported about the impending deal in early October (see “Kommersant” dated October 3). The buyer, according to Kommersant’s interlocutors, was Aurora Invest JSC. Information about the owners of the company in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, SPARK and the Kartoteka is not disclosed; only the general director of the company Elena Chaikovskaya, who previously headed Tessera Invest, controlled by the brothers Timur and Ruslan Babaev, is indicated. In particular, they are co-owners of Vector Rail, which owns the liquefied petroleum gas transportation operator SG-Trans. Previously, Aurora was headed by Yulia Tersaakova, who is listed as the general director of Vector Rail.

It is Messrs. Babaevs who Kommersant’s interlocutors call the beneficiaries of the acquisition of Freight One. One of Kommersant’s sources says that the transaction amount exceeded 200 billion rubles, the same information is provided by Reuters, and earlier experts estimated the value of Freight One at approximately the same amount.

If this information is correct, then the transaction amount will not significantly exceed 175.5 billion rubles, for which in 2011–2012 Vladimir Lisin’s structure first bought 75% minus 2 shares of Freight One and then consolidated the company.

One of Kommersant’s sources says that VTB is providing funds for the deal. The bank declined to comment.

As two sources in the industry told Kommersant, the company’s general director Sergei Karataev sent a message to Freight One’s employees that the sale of the company had been completed. According to Mr. Karataev, the new owner “will remain committed to the development vector that the company has been on for the last five years, with a focus on expanding the volume of business in gondola cars, covered cars and flatcars, as well as on operational efficiency and improving customer experience.”

According to the top manager, in the coming weeks it is planned to hold meetings between the new shareholder and Freight One’s top management team to determine goals for 2024 and discuss the parameters of the strategy until 2030. Freight One did not comment on the transaction and did not confirm the authenticity of the appeal. Kommersant’s interlocutor says that Freight One’s fleet will be reduced as a result of the transaction, in particular, some of the cars will go to Demetra-Holding.

With the change of owner, competition in the market will increase, says Vladimir Savchuk, deputy general director of IPEM, “and perhaps we will see new original approaches to interaction between the operator and the cargo owner.” Freight One was primarily a service company for a metallurgical holding, Mr. Savchuk believes, and now it will be more difficult for NLMK to obtain cheap railcars, which will affect its financial results. Thus, NLMK used PGK cars for intra-plant transportation at prices below the market. In the new situation, when service contracts expire, the market rate will need to be paid. Freight One will compete more actively for the cargo owner, the expert says, believing that the purpose of the deal is primarily to generate income. Mr. Savchuk does not believe that Freight One’s market position will be shaken: if the deal is structured as it is now seen, it will lead to the creation of a larger player in the operator market.

We are talking about an effective deal to consolidate the market with a strong synergistic effect, believes the head of Infoline-Analytics, Mikhail Burmistrov: Freight One is one of the leaders in the efficiency of fleet use, Vector Rail is a major owner and one of the leaders in the operational leasing market. In his opinion, the consolidation of assets in the container transportation segment is of particular interest: Freight One has fitting platforms, the company is pledged by the large operator Trans Synergy, Vector Rail also has platforms, and information has long been circulating about the possible privatization of the owned JSC Russian Railways “RZD Business Asset”. New fitting platforms are now expensive and difficult to buy, notes Mr. Burmistrov, and the merger of businesses will strengthen positions by entering the segment of transportation by container trains.

Natalya Skorlygina