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EQT to Weigh Sale of Train Shipment Firm GB Railfreight

EQT to Weigh Sale of Train Shipment Firm GB Railfreight

(Bloomberg) -- Swedish buyout firm EQT Partners is weighing a sale of its British rail transport company GB Railfreight, according to people familiar with the matter.

EQT is working with an adviser to gauge interest in the London-based rail freight business, the people said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. It has sent out financial information on GB Railfreight to prospective buyers, the people said.

The private equity firm bought the 20-year-old company in 2016 for an enterprise value of 180 million euros ($205 million). EQT owns GB Railfreight through its portfolio company Hector Rail Group, which also provides services in Germany and Scandinavia.

No final decisions have been made, and EQT could decide against a sale, the people said. Representatives for EQT and GB Railfreight declined to comment.

GB Railfreight is the No. 3 rail-freight operator in the U.K., with sales of more than 120 million pounds ($153 million), according to its website. It transports everything from coal to cars to petrochemicals for clients including Bombardier Inc., Electricite de France SA and Tata Group.

In March, EQT raised 9 billion euros for its latest infrastructure fund, more than double the amount it got for its previous pool.

To contact the reporters on this story: Gillian Tan in New York at gtan129@bloomberg.net;Sarah Syed in London at ssyed35@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Goldstein at agoldstein5@bloomberg.net, ;Aaron Kirchfeld at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net, Amy Thomson, Ben Scent

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