Rolling stock leasing company Porterbrook has signed a Private Placement equivalent to approximately £300m, which will be used to refinance a £270m public bond, which is due to mature in October 2026.

Fourteen investors, including six new lenders, were involved in the transaction, which allows Porterbrook to extend its debt maturity profile at an attractive price.

As well as leasing rolling stock, Porterbrook is the UK’s leading financier of rolling stock, is an asset management company, and owns 25% of the UK’s passenger rail fleet. It also owns the Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre in Warwickshire; after taking ownership of the site, it implemented a major upgrade.

Porterbrook also owns 49% of Brodie Engineering at Kilmarnock in Scotland, which undertakes the overhaul of rolling stock, and financed the redevelopment of the Train Maintenance Depot at Bletchley in Buckinghamshire for London Northwestern Railway.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Porterbrook would finance the construction of 150 Intermodal Wagons to be used by Freightliner.

“Today’s successful signing underpins our ability to invest in the future of this important industry. It highlights the clear appeal of the UK railway to both existing and new investors, and their strong appetite to lend against stable, long-term assets.”

Rees Sutton, Porterbrook’s Director of Financing and Investments