++ DB fulfils condition set by European Union in due time ++ Completion of sale expected in first quarter 2011 following anti-trust approval ++
(Berlin, 8th December 2010) The Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bahn has approved today the Sale and Purchase Agreement for the Arriva Germany-Group with a consortium led by Ferrovie dello Stato in partnership with the long-term investor Cube Infrastructure. It thus followed a corresponding resolution of the DB-Board of Management adopted last Friday. The parties have agreed to keep confidential the details of the sale and purchase agreement.
The execution of the sale is still subject to the approval of the selected purchaser by the European Commission and the respective anti-trust clearance of the transaction. DB expects the respective clearance in the first quarter of 2011.
Until then Arriva Germany will continue to be managed independently from Deutsche Bahn. Additionally the information barrier between the Arriva Germany business and DB will remain in place. Compliance with the information barrier and the other commitments vis-à-vis the European Commission will continue to be monitored by the Trustee appointed by the European Commission.
“Apart from the fulfilment of the requirements of the European Commission concerning the purchaser, the purchase price offered was for us the determining factor,” Dr. Rüdiger Grube, Chairman of the Deutsche Bahn Board of Management said. “With the decision taken now we have not only fulfilled the requirement of the European Commission within the required timeframe but we also found a good solution for Arriva Germany and its employees.”
On August 11th 2010 the European Commission had approved the acquisition of Arriva plc. by Deutsche Bahn. The decision was made under the condition that Deutsche Bahn enters into a sale and purchase agreement over the entire train and bus business of Arriva Germany by December 11th 2010 with a suitable buyer.
During the last months DB has been in close discussions with potential buyers within a transparent and discrimination free sales process. The sales process was monitored by the European Commission.
In 2009 Arriva employed approx. 3.100 employees and achieved a revenue of about 460 million Euros.