Fesco buys 12.5pc of Fesco buys 12.5pc of TransContainer, eyes controlling stake

RUSSIA`s Far East Shipping Company has bought a 12.5 per cent stake in the Russian Railways unit TransContainer for US$138.9 million as part of an objective to securing a controlling interest and with it, 50 per cent of the country`s container rail sector.

Fesco`s sale of its container terminals signalled an exit from port operations in August sale of National Container Company (NCC) for US$900 million freeing it up for further investments.


The distribution of the remaining stake of the 35 per cent released, which reduces RZD to a 50 per cent share, is as yet undisclosed, reported London`s Containerisation International. However, the second biggest operator in the country`s rail sector of Russian Troika is part owned by 50 per cent by TransContainer and Fesco highlighting an aggressive move into the sector.


FESCO chief executive Sergei Generalov said in a report in Moscow Times that its aim to acquire a controlling stake in TransContainer "will happen" in two to four years time. The deputy transport minister Andrei Nedosekov, who confirmed a possible sale of TransContainer in 2012-13 to finance investments, backs this up.