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From today (12 October) Greater Anglia came under direct DfT control.
Former GA MD and NR Eastern Region deputy MD Jamie
Burles becomes the Integrated Managing Director (Designate) for the
Anglia Region. He had been with Abellio since 2012,
transferring to NR last year.
He will create a single Executive Leadership Team that will bring
together Network Rail Anglia, c2c and GA across the
Eastern region (c2c returned to public ownership on 20 July).
I think this is the first time that two separate operators have been
combined into one organisation also including the
NR region. GA was one of the highest performing TOCs, and c2c was also
pretty good, so this has the potential to set the
standard for other GBR integrated regional operators.
https://www.modernrailways.com/article/greater-anglia-enters-public-ownership-12-october
Recliner <recliner.usenet@gmail.com> wrote:
From today (12 October) Greater Anglia came under direct DfT control.
Former GA MD and NR Eastern Region deputy MD Jamie
Burles becomes the Integrated Managing Director (Designate) for the
Anglia Region. He had been with Abellio since 2012,
transferring to NR last year.
He will create a single Executive Leadership Team that will bring
together Network Rail Anglia, c2c and GA across the
Eastern region (c2c returned to public ownership on 20 July).
I think this is the first time that two separate operators have been
combined into one organisation also including the
NR region. GA was one of the highest performing TOCs, and c2c was also
pretty good, so this has the potential to set the
standard for other GBR integrated regional operators.
https://www.modernrailways.com/article/greater-anglia-enters-public-ownership-12-october
Which brings me onto Transport UK. Why did they bother with a management >buyout of the Abellio franchises? The writing was on the wall, with perhaps >only the EMR franchise having any significant remaining lifetime.
On Sun, 12 Oct 2025 14:44:06 -0000 (UTC), Tweed <usenet.tweed@gmail.com> wrote:
Recliner <recliner.usenet@gmail.com> wrote:
From today (12 October) Greater Anglia came under direct DfT control.
Former GA MD and NR Eastern Region deputy MD Jamie
Burles becomes the Integrated Managing Director (Designate) for the
Anglia Region. He had been with Abellio since 2012,
transferring to NR last year.
He will create a single Executive Leadership Team that will bring
together Network Rail Anglia, c2c and GA across the
Eastern region (c2c returned to public ownership on 20 July).
I think this is the first time that two separate operators have been
combined into one organisation also including the
NR region. GA was one of the highest performing TOCs, and c2c was also
pretty good, so this has the potential to set the
standard for other GBR integrated regional operators.
https://www.modernrailways.com/article/greater-anglia-enters-public-ownership-12-october
Which brings me onto Transport UK. Why did they bother with a management
buyout of the Abellio franchises? The writing was on the wall, with perhaps >> only the EMR franchise having any significant remaining lifetime.
I think the Dutch wanted out in 2022, and the buyout happened in February 2023, well before the general election.
There's also the London Northwestern Railway franchise, which runs to
next year, and might well have been extended under
the Tories.
Which brings me onto Transport UK. Why did they bother with a management buyout of the Abellio franchises? The writing was on the wall, with perhaps only the EMR franchise having any significant remaining lifetime.
On 12/10/2025 15:44, Tweed wrote:
Which brings me onto Transport UK. Why did they bother with a management
buyout of the Abellio franchises? The writing was on the wall, with perhaps >> only the EMR franchise having any significant remaining lifetime.
The Dutch wanted rid for political reasons; maybe they got it very
cheap? And German-style tendering was planned if the Tories won the election.
Arthur Figgis <afiggis@example.invalid> wrote:
On 12/10/2025 15:44, Tweed wrote:
Which brings me onto Transport UK. Why did they bother with a management >>> buyout of the Abellio franchises? The writing was on the wall, with perhaps >>> only the EMR franchise having any significant remaining lifetime.
The Dutch wanted rid for political reasons; maybe they got it very
cheap? And German-style tendering was planned if the Tories won the
election.
Yes, IrCOm sure the management got it cheaply. In any case, it was already expected that the franchises would reach an end within a few years, and
would transfer at no cost. The rail franchises are asset-light, so the main value would have been the NPV of the expected future profits from the management fees, plus any working capital. NS couldnrCOt have sold it to anyone else, and probably effectively loaned the modest transaction value
to the management.
Arthur Figgis <afiggis@example.invalid> wrote:
On 12/10/2025 15:44, Tweed wrote:
Which brings me onto Transport UK. Why did they bother with a management >>> buyout of the Abellio franchises? The writing was on the wall, with perhaps >>> only the EMR franchise having any significant remaining lifetime.
The Dutch wanted rid for political reasons; maybe they got it very
cheap? And German-style tendering was planned if the Tories won the
election.
Yes, IrCOm sure the management got it cheaply. In any case, it was already >expected that the franchises would reach an end within a few years, and
would transfer at no cost. The rail franchises are asset-light, so the main >value would have been the NPV of the expected future profits from the >management fees, plus any working capital. NS couldnrCOt have sold it to >anyone else, and probably effectively loaned the modest transaction value
to the management.
Recliner <recliner.usenet@gmail.com> wrote:
Arthur Figgis <afiggis@example.invalid> wrote:
On 12/10/2025 15:44, Tweed wrote:
Which brings me onto Transport UK. Why did they bother with a management >>>> buyout of the Abellio franchises? The writing was on the wall, with perhaps
only the EMR franchise having any significant remaining lifetime.
The Dutch wanted rid for political reasons; maybe they got it very
cheap? And German-style tendering was planned if the Tories won the
election.
Yes, IrCOm sure the management got it cheaply. In any case, it was already >> expected that the franchises would reach an end within a few years, and
would transfer at no cost. The rail franchises are asset-light, so the main >> value would have been the NPV of the expected future profits from the
management fees, plus any working capital. NS couldnrCOt have sold it to
anyone else, and probably effectively loaned the modest transaction value
to the management.
Presumably NS would have lost their performance bond if they simply walked away.?
On Mon, 13 Oct 2025 20:42:13 GMT
Recliner <recliner.usenet@gmail.com> gabbled:
Arthur Figgis <afiggis@example.invalid> wrote:
On 12/10/2025 15:44, Tweed wrote:
Which brings me onto Transport UK. Why did they bother with a management >>>> buyout of the Abellio franchises? The writing was on the wall, with perhaps
only the EMR franchise having any significant remaining lifetime.
The Dutch wanted rid for political reasons; maybe they got it very
cheap? And German-style tendering was planned if the Tories won the
election.
Yes, IrCOm sure the management got it cheaply. In any case, it was already >> expected that the franchises would reach an end within a few years, and
would transfer at no cost. The rail franchises are asset-light, so the main >> value would have been the NPV of the expected future profits from the
management fees, plus any working capital. NS couldnrCOt have sold it to
anyone else, and probably effectively loaned the modest transaction value
to the management.
Perhaps the management wanted to make sure they still had jobs come nationalisation instead of being sacked on the run up by a company that wanted to recoup some money beforehand.
<boltar@caprica.universe> wrote:
On Mon, 13 Oct 2025 20:42:13 GMT
Recliner <recliner.usenet@gmail.com> gabbled:
Arthur Figgis <afiggis@example.invalid> wrote:
On 12/10/2025 15:44, Tweed wrote:
Which brings me onto Transport UK. Why did they bother with a management >>>>> buyout of the Abellio franchises? The writing was on the wall, with perhaps
only the EMR franchise having any significant remaining lifetime.
The Dutch wanted rid for political reasons; maybe they got it very
cheap? And German-style tendering was planned if the Tories won the
election.
Yes, IrCOm sure the management got it cheaply. In any case, it was already >>> expected that the franchises would reach an end within a few years, and
would transfer at no cost. The rail franchises are asset-light, so the main >>> value would have been the NPV of the expected future profits from the
management fees, plus any working capital. NS couldnrCOt have sold it to >>> anyone else, and probably effectively loaned the modest transaction value >>> to the management.
Perhaps the management wanted to make sure they still had jobs come
nationalisation instead of being sacked on the run up by a company that
wanted to recoup some money beforehand.
The TOCs would have been immediately nationalised, so any laid-off managers probably have been re-employed with little or no gap in employment.
But NS would have lost both its performance bond and the expected profits from operating the TOCs for the DfT for the next 3-4 years. It might also have been liable for any pension fund top-ups. So NS would have had a lot (tens of millions, or more) to lose by simply walking away in 2022. And it would have soured relations between the Dutch and UK governments. So I donrCOt think unilaterally walking away was ever an option.
Probably the only other options were to transfer ownership to other willing operators, such as FirstGroup, or to negotiate an early transfer of the
TOCs to the OLR.
So the MBO they supported was probably the best deal all round, for NS, the UK senior managers, and the DfT. In effect, NS shared the remaining
operating profits with the senior managers, in return for an early exit
from the UK, while the DfT could take over their operation in a staged, planned manner.
IrCOve not delved deep enough into the TUG accounts to see if the managers had to raise external funding from banks or PE, or if NS was content to be paid in stages, as the operating profits were realised by TUG. Perhaps it
was a mixture of both?