UK’s Infracapital Acquires Dutch Inland Port and Rail Terminal Operator CTH

Infracapital, the infrastructure equity investment arm of M&G Plc in the UK, has acquired 66.67% of CTH, the Dutch inland port and rail terminal operator, from Bolk Container Transport and Nijhof-Wassink.

Through this acquisition, Infracapital has increased its stake in CTH to 100%, having already acquired 33.33% of the business via its acquisition of Multimodal Container Services B.V. (MCS) in 2021. CTH is being acquired via Infracapital’s Benelux inland container terminal platform, Inland Terminals Group (ITG).

Headquartered in Hengelo, CTH operates two strategically located inland terminals in the Netherlands which are located between the existing ITG catchment areas and offer direct services to the Port of Rotterdam, making this acquisition a highly complementary and synergistic addition to the ITG platform. In addition, CTH operates a rail terminal in the Pernis area of the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, which offers services to rail operators across Europe.

Inland shipping and rail, which have significantly lower carbon footprints compared to trucking, are a resilient and growing segment in the Benelux logistics market. This is underpinned by strong political support for a shift away from road transport to ease road congestion and help achieve decarbonisation objectives.

The enlarged ITG network incorporating the CTH terminals is well positioned to expand in line with this modal shift, with barging and rail expected to account for an increasing proportion of inland transport from Rotterdam in the future.

CTH is Infracapital’s third acquisition in the inland terminals sector, having acquired BCTN in June 2021 and MCS in December 2021, which have since been integrated to form ITG, the largest inland terminal operator in the Benelux.

CTH’s addition to the platform is aligned with Infracapital’s strategy to invest sustainably in essential infrastructure to meet the changing needs of society and support long-term economic growth across Europe.

Bolstering Presence

Herman Deetman, Managing Director at Infracapital, said that the acquisition of CTH further bolsters and diversifies Infracapital’s end-to-end inland container transport presence in the Netherlands and Belgium. Having CTH join ITG further strengthens its position as a leading green intermodal operator.

Eduard Backer, CEO of ITG, while welcoming the CTH in the group’s inland terminals, said that with the acquisition of CTT Hengelo, CTT Almelo and CTT Rotterdam they have added three quality inland terminals to their network.

“We look forward to working with the CTH organisations and customers. Together we will further strengthen our product offering and ability to further improve the environmental performance of our intermodal container transport,” he added.

The latest acquisition by Infracapital is second deal as the company has purchased 100% of Vopak Rotterdam Botlek (VRB)1, a Dutch specialised liquid storage terminal business based in the Port of Rotterdam.

VRB comprises a portfolio of three chemical liquid storage terminals, having a combined capacity of 1.4 million CBM, is strategically located in the Botlek area of the Port of Rotterdam, which houses one of Europe’s largest integrated industrial chemicals clusters.

The VRB terminals store a variety of base and specialty chemicals and are directly connected to their largest clients in the region via 40 pipelines. VRB has multi-modal connectivity, including deep-sea vessels, barges, pipelines, trucks and trains.