Nicolas Bargelès — The ROSCO said they’d tell us in early January. But at the beginning of January, we still had no news. So we got back in touch with our contacts. We chased them to get an answer. And we had two. The first is that they finally accept that the French public fund invests alongside them. This is excellent news because all the ROSCOs we have spoken to since the start of the adventure wanted to invest on their own. They didn’t give us the exact reasons for this change of direction, but it’s not hard to guess. This enables them to put less cash into the project. And, by extension, presents a less risky project to the majority shareholder of the ROSCO. It’s a gigantic financial company based in North America. Finally, and above all, for them, it’s their first collaboration with this famous public fund, which could bode well for them in the future.
The second response the ROSCO teams gave us is that they would submit the project to their investment committee at the end of January, and also to this famous majority shareholder. We specify it here because initially, they stated that this would not be the case. That for a relatively modest level of investment, this diligence would be superfluous. That they could validate it on their own level. Again, no explanation. It’s probably some internal misalignment, but we can’t be sure. It’s difficult, at this stage, to say if this changes anything for us. However, one thing is for sure: those with whom we are in contact, including the CEO, are very enthusiastic about making this deal. They’re convinced by the business model of Midnight Trains. Better yet, they believe the time is right to relaunch international night trains, provided that comfort is in step with the times.
Romain Payet — The ROSCO, however, has been clear: even if this deal goes through, it will be with a level of guarantee identical to that requested when we ruled it out for this exact reason. Or 20 million euros at least. It's a lot. Especially now that we’ve finally almost completed the financing of the operational company. But we have no choice, without this ROSCO, we’re dead.
Conversely, we know that if ROSCO joins us, it will be followed by others. We would then be in a position of strength. It’s like selling Bitcoin when it’s already worth $50,000 a pop. i.e. not very difficult. So we’re counting on the return of certain venture capital funds, impact funds and large angel investors. Better yet, we imagine opening up our capital to small-scale investors and our community. Which is you! Except that even with all this, we risk not reaching that fateful sum. This is all the more difficult to obtain as it’s not an investment, but a guarantee. It can take the form of prepaid and escrow rents, a bank guarantee, an insurance guarantee or a guarantee of takeover by another operator in the event of Midnight Trains' bankruptcy.
Adrien Aumont — Providing such guarantees isn’t easy. It’s not enough to raise new money or go to the bank. We need the help of one or more public actors, whether French or European. An institution must agree to help new entrants access rolling stock. It has to open its pockets to the budget dedicated to transport, sustainable development, business financing or something else for us. So we’re taking advantage of this moment by waiting for the ROSCO's response to relaunch the institutions with whom we have been in contact in the past three years. Those we met on the way and have been asking them to support us, directly or indirectly. They’re key to providing the guarantees requested if the ROSCO gives us the green light.
But this time, rather than backing away from this immense financial gap, we’re preparing a new file and a new business plan with the investment bank: by integrating ROSCO as if it had already said yes. Because if this investor comes on board with us, the cards will be redealt. We’d no longer be the small start-up that everyone glances from the corner of their eye. Instead we will be the company that did everything on its own. The company that found its funding despite the total absence of aid provided by the French and European authorities. The latter would only have to help us with the guarantees. They’d just have to play the hero who flies out aid to secure a major victory.
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