Arriva Group is a leading provider of passenger transport across Europe, employing around 35,500 people and delivering around 1.5 billion passenger journeys across 10 European countries. In June 2024, parent company Deutsche Bahn (DB) announced completion of the sale of Arriva – to I Squared Capital – to enable additional growth in rail transport in Germany, and to allow it to focus its resources on its core business.

I-Squared Capital is a leading investor in transport and logistics and in decarbonisation technologies, with a track record of investing significant capital in companies to support their transition to sustainable modern public utilities. Jacobs Consulting was appointed Technical Advisor to assist I-Squared with the acquisition, and Direx Solutions provided subject-matter expertise to support the technical due diligence.

As part of the due diligence process, the performance of the bus business and assets across Europe were analysed. This included performing site inspections of the depot and fleet as part of the current state assessment and condition, to support asset valuations.

Key findings and recommendations were presented to the team along with future fleet transition opportunities and risks.