For CEO Di Patrizi: "A further substantial step for the growth of our company and for the consolidation and strengthening of the country's railway logistics system"
Rome, 11 July 2023 – CFI - Compagnia Ferroviaria Italiana, announces the acquisition of the majority stake in Lotras srl.
CFI, a subsidiary of F2i Sgr (the main infrastructure fund manager in Italy) through the F2i-Ania fund, is a leading company in the railway and intermodal transport sector in Italy. In 2022, the companies of the CFI Group recorded a total turnover of more than 100 million euros. Thanks to a fleet made up of 40 locomotives and over 1,400 wagons and the employment of around 250 people, in 2022 CFI traveled just under 5 million trains/km on the national railway network, transporting goods for over 8.3 million tons .
Lotras operates in the same sector and is the national leader in the road-rail transport of food liquids, in particular wines, musts and derivatives from grape processing, thanks to the management of the most important tanker-wagon fleet in the country. It also operates in the transfer of containers and trailers by rail, and is the first national operator to have embarked by train, along the Adriatic coast, non-cranable semi-trailers originally intended for road transport only. In 2022, the Company managed over 3 million hectoliters and approximately 850,000 tons of goods, recording a turnover of approximately 26 million euros.
CFI will acquire 90% of the capital of Lotras. The remaining 10% will be held by the De Girolamo family, historical owner of the company. Armando De Girolamo, who will keep the position of managing director, and his son Nazario, will continue their activity in the company, thus ensuring full continuity, in the wake of a successful path. The closing of the transaction is expected within the next third quarter.
The acquisition of Lotras will allow CFI to strengthen its business along the Adriatic axis, acquiring, inter alia, the management of additional strategic terminal infrastructures for the development of intermodal traffic (such as the ASI-Incoronata Terminal in Foggia) which will be added at the terminals of Fiorenzuola d'Arda and Piedimonte San Germano already under management. The transaction will also allow the creation of synergies with other logistics areas already present in the portfolio of F2i Sgr, such as port and airport terminals.
"With this operation", explains Di Patrizi, CEO of CFI, "our company consolidates its role as the leading independent railway operator in Italy and strengthens its ability to offer the market the best logistic and intermodal solutions, thus promoting the development of the freight traffic by rail, much desired also at European level in order to combat the climate crisis. The entry of a historic, important company with an expert and capable management like Lotras into our organization will allow us to further develop our network, in particular the connections between Southern Italy, the rest of the country and Europe. This acquisition", continues Di Patrizi, "is consistent with F2i's investment philosophy, aimed at encouraging the growth of the companies in the portfolio also through external lines, with the aim of encouraging the creation of national champions".
"The natural evolution of fully sharing a development strategy in the railway sector with CFI and F2i, led us like Lotras", explains Sole Director Armando de Girolamo, "to merge into a "Group" in which the experiences and our historical activities are added to an ever wider offer to the market, useful to satisfy every need; the needs of the clientele require a complete and excellent response, with high quality and a wide range of services provided. This industrial operation will contribute to the creation of a large national and European enterprise to develop a new, large, logistics project linked to the railways, of which we are proud to become part"
