Romain Payet — We have never looked so strong. Or so little like a start-up. We have letters of interest from large train ticket distributors and another, coming soon, from a huge traction rail operator. Better yet, we have very positive simulations and projections on the future sale of our products. Our file has never been so thick. All we have to do is send it to the right person. To ROSCOs of course, which as a reminder, are Rolling Stock Companies, which buy trains to rent them to other companies. We also need infrastructure funds and investment funds have already focused, directly or indirectly, on issues related to rail. We have no time to waste. There’s no question of having to re-explain the project and its issues to people who know nothing about it and are only interested because they’re curious. We’re not being contemptuous or pretentious. But the time to teach others about the sector is now behind us.
Unfortunately, this submission doesn't do much. Funds that already have a grasp of the sector aren’t responding. And when they do, it’s to refuse without taking the time to look at it in depth. On the ROSCO side, things are going a little better and we get appointments with three of them: two Germans and one French, the one whose offer we’d declined because of the level of guarantee it demanded. Exchanges with the first two went well, but the process quickly stalled internally. So we only have one avenue left. A path we already ruled out in the past, but one that’s based on a long relationship. After all, we met certain leaders of this French ROSCO at the very beginning of our adventure. They gave us advice and followed us with kindness. We ended up preferring their competitors, but our relations are still very good.
Adrien Aumont — This leads us to meet the CEO and the person in charge of passenger trains in December 2023. As Romain said, we already know one another and the meeting is all the more frank. There is no pretense, nor courtship. They know everything, or almost everything, about our situation and, by extension, our needs. We’re aware that the financial guarantee they need is very high – their own shareholders wouldn’t let them do otherwise. They approach the subject straightforwardly: they’re still very interested in Midnight Trains, but there’s no reason why their proposal should be different from last time. With one exception. This time, they’re offering to help us find these guarantees from the institutions. They promise not to leave us to do this alone. They will use all their weight to open the doors that need to be opened. This suits us and we agree to move forward within the broad general framework. At this point, we couldn’t hope for better. We have entered a phase where we absolutely have to find a solution for our assets. Otherwise Midnight Trains won’t ever actually see the light of day.
Nicolas Bargelès — Another potential complication: this ROSCO would prefer to be the only one acquiring our assets. On the one hand, it would prefer this operation to appear in the middle of its other accounting lines, rather than in a full-fledged investment vehicle, separate from the other projects it covers. On the other hand, the lifespan of such rolling stock is around 30 years. Calling on follower investors for such a purchase implies bonding with them for three decades and potentially blocking the use of certain assets, which is not great in the eyes of a company like this. Nor for us, since we don’t want to be linked for such a long period. If only to be able to renew our fleet before this deadline or renegotiate our contract along the way. Only problem is, if this ROSCO invests alone, we will have to refuse the investment from the French public fund which wants to take a share of the assets, which could cause us to lose the investment fund that focuses on the sustainability of projects. This threatens the entire balance of our fundraising, including on the OpCo. But once again, we have to move forward at all costs. We’re not sure that the arrival of this ROSCO will be enough to keep us alive. But without it, we’re certain to go to the wall. There will always be time to find a new balance later. This is what we keep in mind when presenting in front of our strategic committee in December 2023, just before the Christmas holidays.
Romain Payet — You will have guessed that the atmosphere of this new strategic committee isn’t the same as during the previous one. We have many letters of interest, but only one avenue left for purchasing our assets. Our historical investors know it as well as we do: everything can collapse in an instant. The fate of Midnight Trains is at stake now.
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