The auction has been held for the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic (MMA) railroad and the winner was the "stalking horse" bidder, Fortress Investment Group of New York.
The Eastern Maine Railway and the Springfield Terminal Railway Company made a bid for the Maine portion of the MMA but the trustee wanted to sell the entire railroad to one bidder, so Fortress won. There is some speculation that there were other bids but since the auction was "closed door", it may never be made public.
The Eastern Maine Railway, along with sister companies NB Southern Railway and the Maine Northern Railway, are owned by J.D. Irving. The Springfield Terminal Railway Company is a subsidiary of the Pan Am Railway, formerly known as the Guilford Rail System.
Fortress owns the Florida East Coast Railway and used to own RailAmerica before selling it.
The editor of the Atlantic Northeast Rails and Ports newsletter was nearby and reported that John Giles was Fortress' representative at the auction and that the auction apparently took about 40 minutes. Mr. Giles is a veteran railroader and presumably will helm the MMA.
The deal still has to be confirmed in both Canada and the USA. This is supposed to take place on Thursday in both countries.
3 comments:
MMA might re-invent itself yet. I have seen how Fortress runs FEC (while living in St. Augustine FL) and I was very impressed. I think Fortress sees the returns on the oil tanker traffic to the east coast and will re-vamp the line so that it is a money maker. Companies like Fortress do not buy lines to 'lose' money.
MMA might re-invent itself yet. I have seen how Fortress runs FEC (while living in St. Augustine FL) and I was very impressed. I think Fortress sees the returns on the oil tanker traffic to the east coast and will re-vamp the line so that it is a money maker. Companies like Fortress do not buy lines to 'lose' money.
I can't imagine people near the former MMA liking the return of oil traffic. I hope that they get other traffic to make the line viable.
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