Genessee & Wyoming Inc. (GWI) owns and operates short line and regional freight railroads in the United States, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. The company, headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, also owns a minority interest in a railroad in Bolivia. Operations currently include 63 railroads organized in nine regions, with more than 6,700 miles of owned and leased track and approximately 3,000 additional miles under track access arrangements.
Last week the company announced the acquisitions of the Georgia Southwestern Roailroad, Inc. and of 10 short line railroads known as the Ohio Central Railroad System (OCR). The acquisition of Georgia Southwestern was made for cash consideration of approximately $16.5M and the assumption of $5.4M in debt, subject to adjustment for final working capital. Georgia Southwestern, headquartered in Dawson, Georgia, has 20 employees and 10 locomotives and carries approximately 10,000 carloads per year, primarily serving customers in the peanut, general agriculture, aggregate, animal feed and ethanol storage markets.
The acquisition of OCR was made for $234.3M in cash, subject to adjustment for final working capital. The cash purchase price includes $7.5M of contingent consideration that GWI has placed into escrow, which will be paid to the seller upon satisfaction of certain conditions. OCR has more than 170 employees, operates over 445 miles of track and owns 64 locomotives. The railroads handle approximately 140,000 annual carloads, primarily in the coal, steel and solid waste industries.
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