JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Shortline operator Pinsly Railroad Co. today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Hondo Railway, a short line railroad company in Hondo, Texas, just west of San Antonio.
Pinsly and its partner, Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, have requested that the transaction be exempt from Surface Transportation Board review, as is common in shortline deals.
Hondo Railway, founded in 2006 by Don Lee and Mark Holland, leases 13,200 feet of track and serves customers that ship a range of commodities including flour, corn syrup, ethanol, and plastic pellets. Hondo operates transload facilities and provides customers with interchange access to both BNSF Railway and Union Pacific, as well as access to 80,000 feet of industrial track for use in transloading and storage of railcars.
“Hondo Railway is a high-quality asset developed by high-quality business leaders. Don and Mark, along with their families, have done an amazing job growing this railroad,” Pinsly CEO Ryan Ratledge said in a statement. “We are thankful to be able to continue to work alongside Miles and Chase Lee, Don’s son and grandson. We are eager to deploy Miles’s experience on our other six properties where he will work to develop business opportunities, much like he has at Hondo over the years. This railroad and its team are a great addition to the Pinsly family of roads and will further diversify our commodity mix as well as geographic location.”
Lee and Holland added in a statement: “We are proud of Hondo Railway, and grateful to our many wonderful employees and loyal customers over the years. It has been a joy to build this company together, and it gives us great pleasure to become a part of the Pinsly rail group.”
As part of its strategic plan, Pinsly is focused on growth from existing customers and through acquisitions. In the past two years, Pinsly has purchased four railroads bringing its total railroad holdings to six.
They include Florida Gulf & Atlantic, Grenada Railroad, Camp Chase Rail, Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad, Vermilion Valley Railroad, and Pioneer Valley Railroad.
Macquarie Investment Partners is the bank behind Pinsly. They were investing in an odd mix of services, bulk storage (oil & gas), telecom (Hawaii Telecom) and now rail services. They have a range of corporate arms, some of which are public, Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation (NYSE:MIC) and others like the investment partners, which are private. It’s their private investment arm (read hedge fund) supporting Pinsly.