White & Case LLP has advised US-listed The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (Greenbrier) on a joint venture with Astra Rail Management GmbH (Astra Rail).

Greenbrier and Astra Rail are merging their operational units in Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Germany into the newly formed company Greenbrier-Astra Rail, combining the manufacturing, engineering and sale of railcars as well as extensive service capabilities to strengthen and expand the business in Europe, the Gulf Cooperation Council nations and Eurasia.

The joint venture will be registered in the Netherlands, operate six production and repair facilities in Poland and Romania and employ nearly 4,000 people across Europe. After completion of the transaction, which is subject to the approval of the competition authorities of certain EU states, Greenbrier will hold an approximate 75 percent interest in Greenbrier-Astra Rail and Astra Rail will hold approximately 25 percent.

Greenbrier, headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon (USA), is a market leading supplier of transportation equipment and services to the railroad industry. With its worldwide locations, Greenbrier has a lease fleet of more than 8,900 freight railcars and provides management services for more than 264,000 freight railcars. Astra Rail, headquartered in Munich with three production facilities in Romania, develops and manufactures modern freight railcars and bogies. Along with production, maintenance and repair, Astra Rail offers extensive services for the development and inspection of railcars. In 2012, German investor Thomas Manns acquired all shares in Astra Rail.

The White & Case team which advised on the transaction was led by partner Markus Hauptmann and included partner Bodo Bender (both Frankfurt), local partners Matthias Kiesewetter (Hamburg), Carola Glasauer (Frankfurt) and Justus Herrlinger (Hamburg), counsel Jakub Gubanski (Warsaw) and associates Jochen Hoerth (Frankfurt), Lars Petersen (Hamburg), Iwo Malobecki, Jacek Polewski (both Warsaw), Peter Hodal and Barbora Hrabcakova (both Bratislava). The White & Case team also worked closely with Bondoc & Asociatii in Bucharest.