DLA Piper advises Hitachi Rail Limited on acquisition of railway technology firm Perpetuum

DLA Piper is advising Hitachi Rail Limited in connection with the acquisition of Perpetuum, a technology firm that is pioneering digital technology to optimise railway operations, offering improved efficiency, safety and quality of service. The transaction supports Hitachi Rail’s vision to provide superior transport solutions by using digital technology designed to improve the reliability of thousands of passenger services across the globe, including the 276 Hitachi-built trains running across the UK network today.

Perpetuum’s product utilises wireless condition monitoring to spot faults and have them fixed before they delay passengers’ journeys. Once they are installed on trains, Perpetuum’s self-powering digital sensors detect on-board vibrations and send back real-time data about the performance of critical train parts – e.g. wheel sets, gearboxes, motors or bogies – faster and more accurately than traditional condition-monitoring approaches.

The acquisition will further support Hitachi’s strategy of investing in digital and data-driven ways to solve complex customer challenges with the potential for Perpetuum’s products to go beyond wheelsets and bogies to provide actionable information wherever it is generated on the train. The transaction is subject to relevant anti-trust clearance being obtained, and is expected to complete in the autumn of 2020.

The DLA Piper team is being led by London-based partner Martin Nelson-Jones, assisted by senior associate Liam Freeman.