USA: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp’s wagon leasing and fleet management business SMBC Rail Services completed the $2·78bn acquisition of American Railcar Leasing from investment group Icahn Enterprises on June 1.
Chicago-based SMBC Rail said the transaction would produce a ‘premier’ full service lessor of ‘long-lived’ rolling stock for the North American market, with a combined fleet of more than 50 000 wagons of various types used by a range of industries including energy, steel, agriculture, petrochemicals and consumer goods.
‘The highly experienced workforce and the combined railcar fleets will allow SMBC Rail to better serve our overall customer base’ said President & CEO Gene Henneberry. ‘This will be one of the youngest, most efficient rail portfolios in the industry, which will position SMBC as a leader in the rail leasing market for years to come’.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and SMBC Nikko Securities America acted as financial advisers to SMBC, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Chapman & Cutler as legal advisers.
