Salans Paris has advised Caisse d'Epargne Rhône-Alpes, Caisse d'Epargne d'Alsace and Caisse
Nationale des Caisses d'Epargne, all members of the Caisse d'Epargne Group, with respect to the
leasing of railroad cars (14 TERs and 12 Tram-trains) to the Alsace Region. These entities of the
Caisse d'Epargne Group were selected as part of a bid process.
The railroad cars were purchased by the French National Railroad Company (SNCF) from Bombardier
and Siemens Transportation Systems and on-sold by the SNCF to two leasing companies established by
Caisse d'Epargne Rhône-Alpes, Caisse d'Epargne d'Alsace and Caisse Nationale des Caisses d'Epargne
for the purposes of the transaction, which then leased them to the Alsace Region for their further
operation by the SNCF.
The 38-year leasing agreement of an amount of Euro 135 million was signed on 12 December 2008.
In order to finance the acquisition of the railroad cars, the two leasing companies entered into a
pre-financing agreement with Caisse d'Epargne d'Alsace as well as pre-financing and long term
financing agreements with Crédit Foncier de France.
Closing of the transaction occurred in Strasbourg in the premises of the Conseil Régional of the
Alsace Region in front of the cameras of the regional television, France 3.
Philippe Max said "Upon the selection of Caisse d'Epargne Rhône-Alpes, Caisse d'Epargne d'Alsace
and Caisse Nationale des Caisses d'Epargne by the Alsace Region, we had only 5 weeks to finalise
the documentation with all parties. We had to put together a team in a very short time period and
the client was very appreciative of our responsiveness and our ability to assist them in such
transaction.
The transaction was led by Banking & Finance partner Philippe Max, by Public Law partner
Marc Fornacciari and by
Corporate Law Thierry Renaud de la
Faverie, with the assistance of Public Law counsel Charles Henri de Saint Julien, Banking
& Finance associate Maria
Nenova and Corporate Law associate Caroline Bortolaso. François Froment-Meurice, client
relationship partner, supervised the transaction.
Contact
Paola Pozzi-Dazza, Marketing & Communication Manager
Tel: +33 1 42 68 92 72 - Fax: +33 1 42 68 70 20
E-mail: ppozzi@salans.com