Outside of RailAmerica Inc., Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) has been the most active U.S. short-line holding company in the mergers and acquisitions department the past few years. Today, GWI announced it reached an agreement with Rail Management Corp. (RMC) to acquire the company’s 14 short lines for $243 million cash and the assumption of $1.7 million of non-interest bearing debt. GWI will operate the short lines through its Rail Link subsidiary.
Founded in 1980, RMC owns and operates the 96-mile AN Railway L.L.C.; three-mile Atlantic & Western Railway L.P.; 108-mile Bay Line Railroad L.L.C.; 70-mile Copper Basin Railway Inc.; 12-mile East Tennessee Railway L.P.; 38-mile Galveston Railroad L.P.; 220-mile Georgia Central Railway L.P.; 58-mile KWT Railway Inc.; 79-mile Little Rock & Western Railway L.P.; 15-mile M & B Railroad L.L.C.; 14-mile Tomahawk Railway L.P.; 10-mile Valdosta Railway L.P.; five-mile Western Kentucky Railway L.L.C.; and three-mile Wilmington Terminal Railroad L.P. The short lines move about 170,000 annual carloads, half of which come from paper and forest products customers.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and Surface Transportation Board requirements. GWI expects to close the transaction on June 1.
“The rail properties are an excellent geographic fit with our Rail Link region, thereby enabling us to reduce costs and increase efficiency,” said GWI Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Mortimer Fuller III in a prepared statement. “We are purchasing the assets at a time when we are able to benefit from highly favorable debt market conditions.”
GWI owns and operates regionals and short lines in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and Bolivia.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
