White & Case Advises SYNERAIL on Refinancing of Global System for Mobile Communication – Railways

Global law firm White & Case LLP has advised SYNERAIL on the refinancing of the Global System for Mobile Communication – Railways (GSM-R).

Global concessions player and construction group VINCI Concessions, and the number two French telecommunications operator SFR, have refinanced the public-private partnership (PPP) GSM-R, which was entered into with SNCF Réseau and initially financed in 2010, via their joint subsidiary SYNERAIL.

SYNERAIL, in which VINCI Concessions holds a 70 percent stake and SFR the remaining 30 percent, is the project company holding the partnership contract awarded by SNCF Réseau. Its ambition is to make GSM-R a benchmark PPP in the railways sector.

GSM-R is a digital telecommunications network that enables conference mode communications between train drivers and teams on the ground. The project is co-financed by commercial banks, the European Investment Bank and Caisse des dépôts et consignations.

The White & Case team in Paris which advised on the transaction was led by partners Amaury de Feydeau and Jean-Luc Champy, and included partner Grégoire Karila and associates Louis-Jérôme Laisney, Ahmed Boulahcen and Charles Linel.

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