Deutsche Bahn takes over private regional railway company in Romania

The German railway company Deutsche Bahn will take over the Romanian transport operator Regiotrans Braşov, for some EUR 67 million, according to sources close to the deal, quoted by Reuters. The deal involves a share package of 70 percent in the Romanian company, and the buyer has the option to take over the rest of the shares later on. Regiotrans, set up in 2005, has two shareholders, Costel Comana and Iorgu Ganea. The company, with a turnover of some EUR 50 million, runs private railway transport routes, based on contracts with the country's railways operator CFR. It has 760 employees and in 2011 it posted a profit of some EUR 1.9 million. Regiotrans runs over 400 daily trains in Iasi, Timisoara, Brasov, Craiova, Alba Iulia, Praid, Sighisoara, Sibiu, among others. Deutsche Bahn already owns a Romanian company, Romtrans, a railway freight firm, which it took over in 2008, through its subsidiary DB Schenker. The German railway operator had revenues of some EUR 34 billion in 2010, and runs passenger and logistics companies in 130 countries editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: RegioTrans)