Finance
Solutions

Rolling Stock

Africa’s centre-of-excellence for rolling stock financing

Our entrenched relationships with Original Equipment Manufacturers allow us to offer competitive leasing solutions to potential clients, including after sales maintenance and spare parts support by Original Equipment Manufacturers that protects and augments the useful life of the rolling stock inventory.

  • Procurement of new capital equipment ordered to specification
    • The relationships that Thelo Rolling Stock has established with key stakeholders, including rail operators, concession holders, freight owners, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), debt financiers and engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) firms, enable TRSL to respond to clients’ specific capital requirements by arranging the most favourable leasing terms.
    • The OEMs design and manufacture capital equipment, allowing TRSL the ability to place orders and specify design aspects to the capital equipment in line with each client’s specific requirements.
    • EPC firms participate in major infrastructure contracts by managing the procurement of the engineering and construction capital equipment requirements for each project.
    • In both instances, the OEM and EPC firms would liaise with Thelo Rolling Stock and utilise their finance solution for certain projects and clients.
    • This form of organic growth – which leverages the collective relationships – is where Thelo Rolling Stock’s platform offers a unique value proposition to Prospective Funders for expansion into Africa.
  • Sale and leaseback arrangements
    • Increasingly, industrial groups, rail operators, mining houses, EPCs and other potential clients are looking for an African growth solution that allows them to de- risk their balance sheet by selling their rolling stock to an external balance sheet, and concomitantly enter an agreement to lease back the stock over a defined term.
    • These arrangements have the benefit of releasing an immediate return on capital investments made by the potential client, with a repayment (leaseback) schedule over a term that meets favourably with the client’s cash flow profile.
    • Thelo Rolling Stock is in a unique position to explore these opportunities in the areas in which it aspires to operate, which would add to its growing portfolio of leases across Africa and consolidate its market share.
  • Acquisition of existing capital equipment and lease portfolios from financiers and owners
    • Merger and acquisition opportunities are available on the continent, especially for companies with capital equipment stock. However, such opportunities require local presence and insight to uncover.
    • With continued growth into the African market, Thelo Rolling Stock will be in a position where such opportunities are explored as part of the acquisitive growth into the continent.
    • Thelo Rolling Stock has invested time and resources into building relationships and increasing knowledge across the continent in preparation for identifying these opportunities and developing the necessary structures to execute thereon.
    • Thelo Rolling Stock has identified this as a lucrative strategy of scaling the business and owning a fleet of diverse rolling stock through bespoke financing and leasing solutions.

Business Development

We harness business development and strategic partnerships to grow and serve our network of clients

External

Thelo Rolling Stock ‘s business development strategy in securing new clients:

  • Tendering services where a Request for Proposal (RFP) has been issued for rolling stock.
  • Unsolicited requests from the market to fulfil freight demand based on Thelo Rolling Stock ‘s strong brand awareness leveraging existing networks and relationships.
  • Requests by Original Equipment Manufacturers to finance customers’ orders for rolling stock.
  • Sale and leaseback of rolling stock.
  • Offering a range of rolling stock options to cater to diverse customer needs with tailored leasing solutions to meet specific requirements.
  • Commitment to reliability and maintenance as all leases need to be supported by an approved maintenance, repair and management plan.
  • Repowering / refurbishment of rolling stock by rail operators / concession holders.

Internal

  • Thelo Rolling Stock enjoys a preferred partner relationship to supply rolling stock in corridors that our associate company, Thelo Infrastructure Development, develops through its Rail Management and Port Management Agreement model.

Key Relationships

We have established a wide network of stakeholder relationships that have enabled us to refine and augment our business model while growing in line with our vision

These stakeholders are well established within the rail sector and complement the expertise and experience residing within Thelo Rolling Stock.

  • Rail corridor development
    • Thelo Infrastructure Development is committed to modernising and expanding the continent’s rail transportation network, combining Thelo Rolling Stock’s proven experience in sustainable railway financing and expertise in rolling stock supply with Deutsche Bahn’s (DB) world-leading reputation in designing, engineering, operating and maintaining freight and passenger rail networks around the world.
    • DB is one of the largest transport and mobility providers worldwide, with a presence in 130 countries. DB also provides TRSL with access to opportunities to provide rolling stock financing in the different corridors they are involved in globally.
    • Thelo Rolling Stock has a unique opportunity to participate in Transnet’s procurement process to acquire any rolling stock required in replacing some of their aging infrastructure within various corridors and achieving the objectives of the White Paper on National Rail Policy in South Africa.
  • Current Portfolio of Leases

    The current lessees are considered a vital part of the stakeholders to Thelo Rolling Stock due to the following:

    • Opportunity to renew the current leases, extending the weighted average expiry profile of the current portfolio and further extending the sustainability of clients’ logistic solution.
    • New growth opportunities to partner with Thelo Rolling Stock on the strength of existing well-established relationship and track record.
    • Opportunities to recommend Thelo Rolling Stock to any other potential lessees/partners within their network.
  • Rolling stock
    • Thelo Rolling Stock has established key relationships with Original Equipment Manufacturers, ECAs and capital financiers, which allow Thelo Rolling Stock to respond to its clients’ specific capital requirements by arranging the most favourable leasing terms for rolling stock.
    • Thelo Rolling Stock’s solid relationships with manufacturers allows the Company to enter into maintenance relationships with the manufacturers that will include the financing of spare parts to support workshops to service Thelo Rolling Stock’s lessees.
    • Thelo Rolling Stock is also engaged with Original Equipment Manufacturers that have plans to establish manufacturing plants within the African continent in line with certain tender / government requirements to produce equipment and component parts for rolling stock locally.