PARIS — International private equity firm Antin Infrastructure Partners has made what it calls “a strategic investment” in Michigan regional railroad Lake State Railway, the companies announced Tuesday.
Lake State, founded in 1992, operates 375 route-miles in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, primarily stretching from Plymouth in the south of the state to Gaylord and Alpena in the north. It serves more than 60 customers and moved more than 60,000 carloads in 2021. Lake State was featured in the article, “A Railroad that’s Pure Michigan,” in the December 2021 issue of Trains.
“We welcome Antin as a long-term strategic partner to support our continued growth plans and vision for the future of LSRC,” Lake State CEO John Rickoff said in a press release. “We look forward to working with Antin to grow our customer base and expand our rail network.”
Antin Senior Partner Kevin Genleser said, “We are excited to partner with LSRC’s management team for the company’s next chapter of growth. Our investment in LSRC is another major milestone for Antin’s franchise in North America, representing our fourth U.S. investment.”
Antin focuses on infrastructure investment, with more than 22 billion Euros (more than $24 billion) in assets under management. The company is based in Paris, London, New York, Singapore and Luxembourg.
I agree with Michael. I have a bad feeling about this.
Lake State keeps picking up more of CSX’s trackage in Michigan, starting at Bay City and now as far south as Plymouth, with run-throughs to Toledo. I’m not clear on how much of it they actually own. Who knows, they may end up operating the CSX route west to Grand Rapids.
Lake State has become a powerhouse railroad. It has all the right people in the right places. It has won several awards over the last 7 years. It has built up a large customer base. It runs trains 7 days per week for the customer first attitude. It has proven that things are not impossible. I applaud this move. The big 7 railroads ought to be embarrassed that such a little railroad has become so great. No frills, just smart railroading.
Uh-Oh