NS to sell German subsidiary Abellio, ending all foreign activities after 20 years

NS will sell their subsidiary, Abellio Germany, to German railway company BeNEX, the Dutch railway company announced on Tuesday. This will mark the end of business ownership outside of the Netherlands for NS. The company wants to focus on Dutch passengers for domestic and international train travel.

"NS decided a few years ago that foreign activities should not be a part of the core activities. This is why the British NS subsidiary, Abellio UK, was sold to British management last year," the company reports. "With the sale of the German activities, the NS will end its foreign activities after more than 20 years."

The sale price was not announced. Abellio generated a net loss of 260 million euros over the last 20 years, including operations from Abellio UK, which turned a profit.

The sale of Abellio UK ended the Dutch rail firm's presence in Great Britain, where the company had been active since 2003. At the time, the NS reported that the sale was unrelated to Abellio's activities in Germany.

NS previously claimed they wanted to stay active in Germany because the activities were "of strategic importance." The company saw benefits because of how the situation contributed to cross-border travel between the Netherlands and Germany.

"When NS made their first foray into foreign business 20 years ago, the reason was that we wanted to prepare for the changing European rail market. The necessity for this has decreased in the last few years, which caused us to reconsider our activities. Various developments, including Covid, made us ascertain that our remaining foreign activities are making insufficient contributions," said Angelique Magielse, the NS chief financial officer.

Abellio Germany operates three rail concessions in eight states, with 1,600 employees in total. The subsidiary also owns the cleaning and security company PTS. Abellio had an annual turnover of more than 400 million euros. The Abellio Germany headquarters is in Berlin.