Arsenal conquers Golden Eagle: a global luxury train hub is born

Arsenale, the Italian champion of luxury rail cruises, scores a new coup. The company's CEO, Paolo Barletta (the Barletta family is also Arsenale's majority shareholder with over 70% of shares), has signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 100% of the British company Golden Eagle Luxury Trains (Gelt), an iconic brand in the luxury train sector. Based in Manchester (UK), Golden Eagle has been in the market for 35 years and offers long-distance rail cruises in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The deal was announced by Barletta at the Wttc in Rome, the world event dedicated to the tourism of the future.

Arsenale made headlines last spring with the debut of 'La Dolce Vita Orient Express', the first luxury train entirely designed and built in Italy. Always projected onto international markets (the Italian company has projects underway in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan), with the acquisition on British soil Arsenale aims to create the world's largest luxury cruise train hub. And it will be an Italian-driven hub. When fully operational, between convoys already in operation and projects in progress, Arsenale's share of the world luxury cruise train market will rise to 42 per cent.

Says Paolo Barletta: "With Golden Eagle we are acquiring a very strong brand, a pioneer in this sector, which allows us to create a series of synergies between the commercial offers of the two companies, with a cost efficiency in the order of 15% and an enrichment of the routes on short and long distances. Over the next five years we plan to invest around 15 million euros in the modernisation of Golden Eagle's fleet, also thanks to the support of Arsenal's rail yards. Golden Eagle's experience represents an extraordinary added value for the international expansion of our group." International activities will be coordinated between Dubai and Manchester as part of a shared global growth strategy.

The value of the acquisition, which will be finalised by the end of the year, remains confidential at the moment. However, Barletta provides some figures: 'Golden Eagle was valued at a multiple of approximately 20 times Ebitda. The agreement provides for the payment in cash of 30 per cent of the total value and the exchange of shares for the remaining 70 per cent. The agreement will allow Gelt's current shareholders to enter the corporate structure of Arsenale, with a minority share, alongside the group's reference families: Barletta, Bulgari and Rovati'.

Golden Eagle currently operates two trains connecting cities such as Paris, Istanbul and Budapest and has an important presence in Eastern Europe and Turkey, with iconic routes such as Cappadocia. These are joined by additional routes in Central Asia. Tim Littler, founder and chairman of the Manchester-based company, along with his nephew James Masterson, will continue to work with Arsenal, ensuring continuity.