The acquisition of Arriva Sverige makes VR Group a company with 9,400 employees. Net sales are expected to grow by about a third. VR utilizes its electric bus experience in Sweden and learns from the competition in rail transport in Sweden.
Rail transport VR Group buys the Arriva Sverige bus and rail operator from the Arriva Group, which is owned by Deutsche Bahn, Germany.
Arriva Sverige is Sweden’s third largest train operator and the fourth largest bus operator with more than 170 million passengers a year.
The acquisition will also bring about 3,800 new employees to VR Group, VR says in a press release.
VR Group already has 5,600 employees.
Arriva Last year, Sverige’s turnover was over EUR 300 million. It can be compared to VR Group’s net sales in 2021, which were EUR 838.3 million.
“The purchase price is moderate and does not endanger VR Group’s Finnish business or domestic investments,” VR commented on the purchase price.
At the press conference, VR Group’s Director of Passenger Traffic Topi Simola said that it has been agreed with the Seller that the purchase price will not be disclosed.
On a scale, he stated it was “less than we spend on existing equipment maintenance each year”.
VR Group spends about one hundred million euros a year on the maintenance of passenger transport equipment.
“This was a good good time to buy from the market,” Simola said. According to him, there have been a lot of private equity investors coming to the Nordic countries in the past.
“Now the pandemic is lagging behind and there is a significant increase in passenger numbers.”
“Timing e could be better.”
According to VR Group, the transaction will not affect VR Group’s personnel in Finland or Finnish customers.
Arriva Sverige operates competitive bus and rail services in Stockholm’s urban traffic, as well as in regional traffic in southern Sweden and Östergötland.
Its rail network includes Swedish lines such as Saltsjöbanan, Nockebybana, Pågatågen and Östgötapendeln.
VR Group estimates that it will be the third largest bus company in Finland and the second largest player in urban traffic due to the winning of the tender for its bus company Pohjolan Liikenne, Tampere tramikülikeskus and Helsinki Region Transport HSL.
In the transaction, VR Group says that it aims to accelerate the electrification of the Swedish bus business thanks to the experience gained in Finland.
185 of Pohjolan Liikenne’s 550 buses are electric buses.
“We look forward to the opportunity to utilize VR Group’s expertise and the development of our electric bus traffic together with VR Group,” says Arriva’s CEO Johan Lindgren in the bulletin.
Arriva Sverige will become an independent company under VR Group’s passenger traffic.
In Finland public transport is being opened up to competition, and trade will enable it to compete with its international competitors for market share, VR Group’s CEO Lauri Sipponen said at a news conference.
“Acquisition is a more stable way than individual tenders to take the market.”
VR Group has the know-how and lead in electrifying buses, Sipponen said. “Correspondingly, the Swedes have experience and know-how on the railway side [kilpailutuksissa]. ”
After 2018, VR has only acquired electric buses for its equipment. They are also cheaper to use than diesel buses. Therefore, VR Group’s experience with environmentally friendly electric buses can be useful in Swedish public transport tenders.
Sipposen According to VR, the expansion into the Nordic countries has been in VR’s binoculars for years, as the population in the domestic market is not growing as much as in Sweden.
“Domestic urban traffic has grown quite significantly. We believe it will continue to grow. ”
Arriva Sverige owns 800 buses and uses 240 trains and 65 trams, Simola said.
He estimates that the number of electric buses will increase significantly with new tenders.
In practice, the winner of the bus tender usually acquires new equipment for its service.
“We will be a major buyer of buses.”
Simola’s size is useful when electric buses with the manufacturer to suit different markets.
“Autonomous buses are also coming. Muscles are needed for development work with the manufacturer. ”
In Sweden Competition in public transport in both buses and rail transport is many times higher than in Finland and is expected to grow rapidly.
Arriva Sverige is currently operating at a loss after a couple of years in the market, Simola said.
According to him, the company’s profitability should turn positive as early as next year, when one big contract expires.
Trade is scheduled for early July. It requires the approval of the German Ministry of Digital and Transport and the government of Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn (DB) is a passenger and logistics giant. Its Arriva company operated in the UK as a bus and train company, in the Netherlands and in continental Europe.
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