Adrien Aumont — So we have two months ahead of us. It’s not much time at all. With determination and a little luck turned into a big opportunity, we can save Midnight Trains from closure. Above all, we can give it a real chance to exist within the railway landscape, running reinvented night trains between major European cities to replace short-haul and medium-haul flights.
We’ve got determination. Despite the hard blows, we’ve lost none of our optimism. We talked about the little bit of luck we exploited last week: my chance meeting with the director of an unusual French investment fund. It’s built around a very long-term vision, and is very different to the venture capital funds we have been confronted with in the past. In fact, it invests in companies that enable France to achieve its decarbonisation objectives by 2050. Or in more than twenty-five years. As you probably understood when reading Confidences, this is not common.
Nicolas Bargelès — As with previous investment funds, we start by teaching. To explain the details of our project, its broad outlines and subtleties. Our listeners aren’t railway experts, but they are responsive. They hire the services of an infrastructure expert to assist them in their process of understanding. Within two or three meetings, they effectively identify the points of complexity that we face and question us on this subject. However, unlike others, they trust us. They understand that our project isn’t superficial, that we have worked through all these difficulties and we’re able to resolve them. This creates a completely different working atmosphere, in which we enjoy evolving and moving forward.
The teams from this fund also challenge us on other subjects. Like certain elements of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) that we haven't yet made enough progress with. In addition to convincing them to invest, we’re also maturing certain elements of the project. Finally, we spend long hours fine-tuning in terms of values. These people don’t invest just to get a return on their investment. They want the companies they’re banking on to have the same view as them on the future and how it should be built.
Romain Payet — Finally, one last thing must be clarified. The people we interact with in this fund know our situation. They know that we’re going through a particularly difficult time. That it’s a matter of life and death for Midnight Trains. And that, if they don’t invest now, the project has every chance of disappearing. It may be too late to integrate it into a global decarbonisation project in a few months. This is a parameter that’s never taken into account in a classic fundraise where the decision-makers aren’t emotionally invested. If they don't invest in this company, it will be another one. Or another one. Since it's about making money, any company can do the job as long as it fits their investment thesis. But not when investing to create a more sustainable and breathable future for our children.
After two months of work, we finally have an answer in the form of a letter of interest. It indicates that the fund takes the lead in financing OpCo, the operating company of Midnight Trains. That is to say, it undertakes to invest a very specific amount, which is measured in millions of euros, if the total amount is raised before a certain deadline.
So it’s not new money, it’s a commitment. But a commitment that we’ve been waiting for for a long time. It should serve us to bring together follower investment funds, strategic partners, and business angels. And, more broadly, all types of entities that could consider investing in Midnight Trains. Finally, this means that the fund's teams also take control of the production of documentation, the valuation of the company and a certain number of subjects.
Adrien Aumont — Even though we know at this stage that nothing has been won yet, this letter of interest brings some comfort to our hearts. It gives us some relief. Midnight Trains is not dead. Midnight Trains is still moving. Especially since another stroke of luck will come our way without warning.
.jpg)
