Kirkland & Ellis with Italo on market entry in Germany
Kirkland & Ellis advised Italo Holding (Italo) and its shareholders, Mediterranean Shipping Company and Global Infrastructure Partners (a part of BlackRock), in connection with the company’s expansion into Germany with a total investment of €3.6 billion.
Italo has signed an agreement with Siemens Mobility for the purchase of 26 eight-car Velaro Multi System high-speed trains (with an option for 14 additional train sets), to be deployed on Germany’s high-speed rail network, and 30-years of maintenance. The total investment covers the purchase of the trains, the recruitment and training of approximately 2,500 employees across operations and related industries and investments in stations and IT infrastructure.
From mid-2028, Italo Germany will operate along two main corridors: Munich-Cologne-Dortmund and Munich-Berlin-Hamburg, serving 18 cities across a 1,300-kilometer network with a total of 50 daily services.
The Kirkland & Ellis team
The Kirkland & Ellis team included corporate lawyers Tobias Larisch, Friedrich von der Heydt-von Kalckreuth and Jasper Wentz.
