Millennium Rail, Inc. is one of the largest railcar repair and maintenance companies in the United States.
Industry Characteristics
Our private equity client, Kamm Theodore identified railcar repair and maintenance as an attractive industry. They retained GPI to perform an opportunity study to verify their investment thesis. Our research found that railcar repair and maintenance was a multi-billion dollar market with no pure-play, well-capitalized industry leader. In addition, the industry was growing at twice the rate of GNP, aided by positive Federal legislation.
Manager
GPI identified the universe of managers that had P&L responsibility running large railcar maintenance and repair companies; we quickly recruited William Groos to lead this effort. Mr. Groos was previously the President of Rescar, the largest independent operator in the industry.
Equity Capital
GPI and Kamm Theodore teamed up with Oaktree Capital Management to form Millennium Rail and provide funding to execute the business plan.
Acquisitions
GPI researched over 430 companies, of which over 90 met Millennium Rail's acquisition criteria. We conducted an aggressive search and identified over 10 owners who were interested in discussing the sale of their business. We advised Millennium Rail in the purchase of its platform company Berwind Railway Services, a sizable industry player. With the subsequent acquisition of MBF Industries, Millennium Rail became one of the industry's largest independent companies.