G&W finalizes Heart of Georgia Railroad acquisition

Darien, Conn.-based short line and regional railroad operator Genesee & Wyoming has completed its acquisition of the shares of Atlantic Western Transportation, parent company of the Heart of Georgia Railroad.    Darien, Conn.-based short line and regional railroad operator Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) has acquired the shares of Atlantic Western Transportation, Inc., parent company of Heart of Georgia Railroad, Inc. (HOG), G&W said.
   Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
   HOG operates across the state of Georgia on 219 miles of track leased from the Georgia Department of Transportation. It connects with G&W’s Georgia Southwestern Railroad in Americus, Ga., in addition to G&W’s Georgia Central Railway in Vidalia, Ga.
   HOG also serves an inland intermodal terminal in Cordele, Ga., providing direct rail service via the Georgia Central Railway to the Port of Savannah; and has Class I railroad connections with CSX in Cordele and with Norfolk Southern in Americus and Helena, Ga.
   G&W owns or leases 122 freight railroads across the globe that are organized in 10 operating regions with around 8,000 employees and 3,000 customers. This factors in its acquisition of Worcester, Mass.-based railway Providence and Worcester Railroad, which is subject to pending U.S. Surface Transportation Board approval. G&W’s eight North American regions serve 41 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces, and include 115 short line and regional freight railroads.
   Just last month, G&W’s United Kingdom subsidiary, GWI UK Acquisition Company Ltd., acquired all of the issued share capital of Pentalver Transport Ltd. from a subsidiary of APM Terminals.
   For the first quarter of 2017, net income attributable to G&W reached $26.2 million, down 2.9 percent year-over-year, while G&W’s operating revenues for the quarter totaled $519.1 million, up 7.6 percent year-over-year.