Abellio sells of nearly half of Greater Anglia to Mitsui

[TNL33036]

www.itv.com/news/anglia/2017-01-17/abellio-selling-40-of-greater-anglia-rail-franchise-to-japanese-firm-mitsui/

Abellio and Mitsui are to run the current Anglia franchise as a 60:40 joint venture, click on the link for more information.

[tony4387]

Wonder if this just a part sell or if in time they will sell the remaining 60%

[snoggle]

Jan 18, 2017 20:14:22 GMT tony4387 said:

Wonder if this just a part sell or if in time they will sell the remaining 60%

As things stand today I doubt this is indicative of an intention to sell. Way back Stagecoach had agreed to work with Abellio in developing the Greater Anglia bid. Stagecoach decided to pull out - I think because they won the ECML franchise.

The Greater Anglia franchise as it stands is very ambitious so it makes sense for Abellio to "spread the load" somewhat. I'm sure they bid on their own and passed all the necessary checks on financial security, guarantees etc but there's no harm in having a "helping hand" in return for shared rewards and shared risk.

[ServerKing]

Jan 18, 2017 21:12:55 GMT snoggle said:

Jan 18, 2017 20:14:22 GMT tony4387 said:

Wonder if this just a part sell or if in time they will sell the remaining 60%

As things stand today I doubt this is indicative of an intention to sell. Way back Stagecoach had agreed to work with Abellio in developing the Greater Anglia bid. Stagecoach decided to pull out - I think because they won the ECML franchise.

The Greater Anglia franchise as it stands is very ambitious so it makes sense for Abellio to "spread the load" somewhat. I'm sure they bid on their own and passed all the necessary checks on financial security, guarantees etc but there's no harm in having a "helping hand" in return for shared rewards and shared risk.

It's very common for companies to do this with contracts - the company I work for took on a large contract with a well known IT supplier of laptops, printers, desktops, and has brought in another Service Company to help with the workload in a 60:40 split. To some it may look like we're "sub letting the flat", but it means retaining the work and providing a service. Abellio are also taking the bold move of replacing their entire fleet which will cost money and resources, so a little help to provide continuity of service is fine IMHO