In 2021, Renfe carried out the acquisition of 50% of the operator Leo Express following the capital increase of the Czech company.
The entry into the capital of Leo Express is a strategic opportunity for Renfe, as it allows it to have a presence in three European countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland) where Leo Express operates, and to have the resources and licenses to access the German market.
Likewise, this acquisition allows Renfe to opt, through Leo Express, for new PSO tenders in the aforementioned markets, since it has the local implementation capacity, experience, equipment, or references in these countries, which are often essential to be able to bid.
Leo Express is a private company that started operating in 2012 in the Czech Republic and, since then, has been expanding its open access services by extending them to neighboring countries such as Slovakia and Poland. It also has experience in Germany where, until the start of the pandemic, it had been operating a long-distance open access service between Berlin and Stuttgart, in cooperation with another private operator.
One of the business areas where Leo Express is looking to grow is the Public Service Obligation (PSO) services market. In this area, the company is the holder of PSO contracts in the Czech Republic itself. In addition, following Renfe's entry into the capital, Leo Express has been awarded a 9-year PSO contract in Slovakia, in the Danube region, to operate the line between Bratislava and Komárno, which will mean that the company's production volume will increase considerably.