USA: Mid-market utility, power and transport investor Basalt Infrastructure Partners has agreed to acquire track maintenance plant and road-rail vehicle leasing company RELAM from Paceline Equity Partners.
RELAM operates a fleet of 1 500 specialised rail maintenance machines, with its customer base including railway infrastructure managers and contractors across the USA and Canada.
‘RELAM is an excellent fit with Basalt’s strategy of investing in essential infrastructure businesses with resilient demand characteristics and strong growth potential’, said Basalt partner Wil Jones. ‘Its leading position in the rail maintenance equipment leasing sector is supported by a scaled, specialised fleet and long-standing customer relationships. We are pleased to partner with the management team to support RELAM’s continued growth’.
The transaction is expected to close by the end of May, subject to customary conditions. Wells Fargo led syndication of the debt financing. William Blair served as financial adviser to Basalt and Holland & Knight as legal adviser. Houlihan Lokey served as exclusive financial adviser to Paceline and King & Spalding as legal counsel.
A comprehensive transformation
Paceline said that RELAM had undergone a comprehensive transformation which had tripled revenue under its ownership, with the strengthening of its senior leadership team, expansion and modernisation of its fleet, a broadening of its service offerings and enhancement of its marketing strategy.
The company also acquired Wiskerchen and Falcon Equipment and divested non-core operations to create ‘the first true pure play’ maintenance of way and road-rail vehicle equipment leasing platform.
‘Paceline has been an ideal partner to RELAM, investing in the business with a vision for the future and executable path to value creation’, said RELAM CEO John Roberts on May 11. ‘With a strong foundation we developed with Paceline, we are confident in our ability to continue delivering the highest quality service to our customers as we begin our next chapter.’