Top 50 firm advises longstanding client on purchase of new fleet

Burges Salmon has taken the lead role on Eurostar's multimillion-pound German train purchase.

The Channel Tunnel rail operator announced a £700m investment programme for its fleet last week (7 October), including the purchase of 10 new high-speed trains from German engineering giant Siemens, which are set to cut the London-Paris journey time by about 15 minutes.

The deal has sparked criticism from the French Government and French engineering rival Alstom, which previously supplied all Eurostar trains and had also pitched for the deal.

Burges Salmon, a longstanding adviser to Eurostar, advised the company on the pitching process as well as the completion of the purchase. The top 50 UK law firm fielded a team including head of transport Nick Olley, but which was mainly led by 10-year-qualified senior associate Brioney Thomas.

Siemens and Alstom primarily used their in-house legal teams, with Siemens' Germany-based senior legal counsel Ulf Hommel and UK-based legal manager Nicola Jordan acting as the main advisers on the closing of the transaction.

In addition, the Eurostar investment agenda will see the company upgrade its existing fleet of trains and extend the lines to Amsterdam and Geneva, with the programme also handing roles to Osborne Clarke and Clifford Chance (CC).

Siemens has used external law firms including Slaughter and May's German ally Hengeler Mueller, CC, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Baker & McKenzie in the past.

Eurostar's upgrade programme comes after German train operator Deutsche Bahn announced that it wants to compete in the Channel Tunnel with a high-speed service running between London and Germany.