KfW IPEX-Bank and Helaba close Green Loan for TXRF4

KfW IPEX-Bank and Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba) have funded a €74.4 million, 5.5-year senior secured Green Loan to TX Rail Finance 4 Limited (TXRF4), an Irish company acting as borrower under a Green Finance Framework ("Framework"). The funds will be used to refinance a broadly diversified fleet of 1.650 new and used standard gauge railcars in Europe. The fleet, which consists of approximately 36 percent intermodal railcars, 34 percent sliding-wall railcars and 30 per-cent automobile transporters, is managed by Touax Rail Limited, a leading European railcar leasing and management company with a fleet of 11,086 owned and managed platforms.

Under the transaction, signed on 15 Oct 2021, debt was provided by Helaba and KfW IPEX-Bank as mandated arrangers, with Helaba having also served as Agent and Security Trustee as well as Green Advisor. The second party opinion was provided by Sustainalytics, a Morningstar Company and leading ESG research, ratings and data firm

The successfully completed transaction demonstrates that rail transport is fundamentally an environmentally friendly mode of transport, with a carbon footprint far below that of road freight. Thus, railcars make a significant contribution to decarbonization.

On behalf of the TXRF 4 board, Fabrice Walewski, commented that: “TXRF4 is extremely proud to have successfully refinanced the existing portfolio through a Green Loan which underlines the positive impact of railcar investments in lowering the impact of CO2 emissions and which is also in line with the Touax Group’s overall principals of investing as an owner and manager in sustainable assets”.

Carsten Wiebers, Global Head of Aviation, Mobility & Transport at KfW IPEX-Bank said: „This financing of rail freight waggons further underlines KfW IPEX-Bank’s commitment to promoting environmentally friendly means of transport and supporting the modal shift from road to rail together with our established customer Touax.”

The transaction was supported by Clifford Chance, Frankfurt, as legal advisors to the banks and McCann Fitzgerald, Dublin, as legal advisors to TXRF4.

About TOUAX Group
The TOUAX Group leases out tangible assets (freight railcars, river barges and containers) on a daily basis throughout the world, for its own account and on behalf of third party investors. With €1.1 billion under management, TOUAX is one of the European leaders in the operational leasing of this type of equipment. TOUAX SCA is listed in Paris on EURONEXT – Euronext Paris Compartment C (Code ISIN FR0000033003) and on the CAC® Small and CAC® Mid & Small indexes and in EnterNext PEA-PME.

About Sustainalytics
Sustainalytics is a Morningstar company and a globally-recognized provider of ESG research, ratings and data, and evaluated TXRF’s Framework/transaction and the alignment thereof with relevant market standards and provided views on the robustness and credibility of the Framework/transaction which views are intended to inform investors in general, is not for a specific investor and should not be considered as an offer to buy a security, investment advice or an assurance letter.