Norton Rose Fulbright advises banks and an institutional investor on PLN 1.5bn (€338m) sustainability-linked financing for CARGOUNIT

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright advised a consortium of major Polish and Western European lenders on PLN 1.5bn (€338m) sustainability-linked financing for CARGOUNIT, a leading Central and Eastern European locomotive leasing company headquartered in Poland.

Powszechna Kasa Oszczędności Bank Polski, ING Bank Śląski, Siemens Bank, Bank Polska Kasa Opieki, ABN AMRO, Société Générale, Erste Group Bank AG, La Banque Postale and Bank Ochrony Środowiska comprised the consortium of Polish and foreign financial institutions. Bank Polska Kasa Opieki acted as the facility agent and security agent. Additionally, the financing will be granted by DWS as an institutional investor.

The new financing agreement consists of senior term facility for refinancing of existing debt, revolving facility, capex facility and a PP loan to finance the company’s locomotive acquisitions until 2026, including deliveries of Vectron MS locomotives from Siemens Mobility and Gama Marathon locomotives from Pesa Bydgoszcz. The financing from the sustainability-linked loan will secure funds necessary to purchase of approximately 70 environmentally friendly locomotives.

The team was led by counsel Joanna Braciszewska-Szarapa and included Marta Kawecka, Krzysztof Gorzelak, Patryk Gelar and Igor Kondratowicz. The team worked under the supervision of partner Grzegorz Dyczkowski, who heads the Warsaw office and the firm’s Warsaw banking and finance practice.

The English law advice was provided by partner James Dunnett.

Counsel Joanna Braciszewska-Szarapa, who led the transaction, said:

“We are proud to have assisted the group of financial institutions on this complex financing transaction, which contains ESG goals the borrower has set out in its business strategy. This is one of the many sustainability-linked financings that Norton Rose Fulbright has closed recently in Warsaw. ESG and green finance are gaining momentum both globally and in Poland and we are happy to be part of it as a law firm.”

CARGOUNIT is a leader on the locomotive leasing market in Central and Eastern Europe headquartered in Poland. Its locomotives are mainly used by freight operators from the petrochemical and chemical industries, intermodal transport and transport of aggregates and steel products. CARGOUNIT’s fleet comprises almost 200 locomotives, including almost 120 electric ones.