You were a well-run family of shortlines (and I certainly worry about the future of some of them in other hands), but I find I can't help myself in hoping that your new owners scorch that ugly paint scheme forever from the railroading landscape.
Shrike Arghast You were a well-run family of shortlines (and I certainly worry about the future of some of them in other hands), but I find I can't help myself in hoping that your new owners scorch that ugly paint scheme forever from the railroading landscape.
Sort of looks like they have torn a page from the Warren Buffet book of aquisitions/mergers(?)
[from the OP's linked article] "...U.S. freight railroads Opens a New Window. operator Genesee & Wyoming Opens a New Window. on Monday agreed to be acquired by Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC in a deal valued at about $8.4 billion, including debt.
The announcement comes a day after Reuters reported news of the development, citing sources.
The Transaction will result in G&W becoming a privately held company..."
Probably no different from Tim's 'acquiring' Burger King; it gets all sorts of United States taxation out of the way. I suspect they're acting now, at least in part, to get the deal done before the 'blue team' might get back in the saddle in 2021 and try facilitating its usual soak-the-rich rhetoric...
Perhaps the real concern here is comparable to that for large LBOs in the '80s: what perverted PSR and expedient management will the new entity implement to try to recover some of All That Money sunk into the acquisition?
Since G&W is now privately held, there aren't any greedy stockholders anxious to clean out the company treasury. We may see a few spinoffs here and there but this appears to be a long-term acquisition.
G&W is publicly traded (on the Nasdaq).. its symbol is GWR. As the company doesn't pay a dividend the only way those greedy shareholders can realize a return on their investment is if the price of the stock goes up over time. So.. today was a good day for them.
“For our current stockholders, the sale price realizes significant value and represents a 39.5 percent premium to our March 8 share price. And for long-term investors who have owned our shares for the past two decades, the sale price represents a return of more than 5,400 percent.”
Not a bad return ..
rdamonAnd for long-term investors who have owned our shares for the past two decades, the sale price represents a return of more than 5,400 percent.”
But - I want my big gains today, not twenty years from now!
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
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