The Extraordinary General Assembly of Intercontainer-Interfrigo (ICF), on October 31 in Brussels, approved a proposal to change the legal status of the company from a co-operative into a joint stock company.

This took effect from November 1 and Zeno Baggio has been appointed as the new chairman of the board with Rene Hellinghausen as chief executive officer.

The change came about because as a co-operative the company's legal status was no longer in line with the developments of the deregulated transport market. So in the spring it was voted to start the necessary procedures to become a joint stock company, and this was approved at the Extraordinary General Assembly. As a result ICF will have a more stable capital base.

ICF's change of legal status represents the culmination of a process called 'cutting the umbilical cord' between it and original parent company the railway. With the rail sector now poised for 'proper deregulation', ICF has put itself in a much stronger position to exploit the new situation to the full.