Regional Rail to acquire Pinsly's Florida short lines

Regional Rail LLC, a short-line owner and operator, announced today it has agreed to acquire Pinsly Railroad Co.'s Florida operations with 208 miles of track.

Pinsly's Florida operations include the Florida Central Railroad, the Florida Midland Railroad and the Florida Northern Railroad. The transaction is subject to Surface Transportation Board approval.

The short lines provide freight transportation, transload and rail-car storage services to a broad customer base of over 65 "blue-chip" companies covering a diverse set of end-markets, including heating, fuel blending, building products, chemicals, food and agriculture, scrap, metal and plastic resins, Regional Rail officials said in a press release issued by 3i Group, the company's financial backer.

Pinsly's Florida operations are located in and around Orlando and Tampa. With strong population and economic trends forecast for the region, the lines are "well-positioned" to continue traffic growth, they said.

"Pinsly's Florida operations are highly complementary to Regional Rail and expand our geographic footprint," said Regional Rail Chief Executive Officer Al Sauer. "The lines have a large and diverse customer base, a strong pipeline of new freight customers and service many highly attractive industrial development sites, all of which provide an exciting growth opportunity."

Regional Rail intends to retain all the short lines' employees, Sauer said.

Combined, the Pinsly short lines and Regional Rail will operate 21 line segments across four states, said Rob Collins, managing partner of 3i North American Infrastructure.

"The U.S. short-line network is attractive to 3i and the combined company will be well-positioned for potential future acquisitions," Collins said.

3i invested in Regional Rail in July. Regional Rail currently provides freight freight transportation, rail-car storage and transloading services in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Financial terms for the Pinsly acquisition were not disclosed.