Railway technology company Tracsis has agreed to purchase Mistral Data Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of FirstGroup plc.

The acquisition is for £48 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis, to be paid in cash on completion, subject to customary adjustments, and subject to receiving clearance from the UK Competition and Markets Authority and certain other customary conditions. The target date for completion of the acquisition is no later than 31st October 2026.

Mistral Data is a provider of software to the UK railway industry, including a range of business-critical cloud-native software and data solutions that offer a wide range of functionality. Among them are products that enable Train Operating Companies to communicate with passengers, manage demand and revenue, run day-to-day operations and monitor rolling stock; acquired operational data can also be used for insight into further activities

The purchase of Mistral Data Limited will allow Tracsis to increase its strategy of building a scalable, higher-margin transport software business. Funding for the purchase will come from Tracsis’ existing cash resources and debt facilities.

Tracsis is a high-margin rail software business with good visibility of high-quality earnings, and in the twelve months ended 31 March 2026 it operated with a 30% adjusted EBITDA1 margin, and approximately 85% of its revenue coming fromlong-term contracts. The acquisition will strengthen Tracsis’ position in the UK rail software market, as its products are highly complementary with Mistral Data’s, and, with minimal overlap, it will broaden the Group’s capabilities and extend its customer reach.

Mistral Data’s cloud-native platform will also accelerate SaaS-led transition by providing the capability to develop, deploy and scale software products faster for existing and future customers.

Another recent acquisition in the railway industry includes that of rail distribution platform Rail Europe, which is being acquired by German multimodal travel company Omio Group to significantly expand its retail activities, including its B2C booking platform, B2B distribution business, and the group’s travel discovery brand, ome2Rio.

Across the Atlantic, in March, Canadian company Cando Rail & Terminals acquired Savage Rail of the USA to create North America’s leader in first- and last-mile rail operating services and terminal infrastructure.

“The proposed acquisition of Mistral Data is a highly strategic moment for Tracsis. Mistral Data is a high-quality business in the market we know best, with products that complement rather than compete with our own. Its products are built on a modern, cloud-native platform that delivers strong recurring revenues and high margins. Together, these attributes accelerate our transition to a scalable software product business. It comes at a time of structural change across the UK rail industry. As the transition to Great British Railways gathers pace, alongside cost pressure and rising passenger expectations, operators need smarter, more integrated tools to support safer operations, improve punctuality, protect revenue, keep fleets running and enhance the passenger experience – with less reliance on fragmented legacy in-house systems.”

David Frost, CEO, Tracsis