The Pittsburg, Kan.-based transportation and terminal services provider’s purchase includes 14 inland waterway facilities, four rail and truck terminals, and two deep water port operations across the southern and midwestern United States.
Watco Companies, LLC will acquire 20 bulk terminal operations in the United States from Kinder Morgan Terminals (KMT), the company said in a statement.
The purchase includes 14 inland waterway facilities, four rail and truck terminals, and two deep water port operations across the southern and midwestern U.S. The locations handle a wide range of dry bulk commodities, including ferro alloys, salt, coal, and various break bulk products.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In anticipation of the terminal acquisition, Watco closed a new equity investment on Sept. 30 with SkyKnight Capital, which is funded in part by the Crowley family, owners and operators of ocean carrier Crowley Maritime. Under the terms of SkyKnight’s investment, Tom Crowley has joined the Watco board of directors.
“Watco expects that Crowley Maritime, one of the largest maritime businesses in the U.S., will be a long-term strategic partner,” the company said.
In addition, the company said it anticipates closing a second round of equity funding before the end of 2016 in order to support various customer growth initiatives.
“The Watco Team is excited to continue expanding our waterways presence. We realized tremendous success through the terminals that were acquired in our previous transaction with Kinder Morgan in early 2015 and we expect continued success with these facilities as well,” Watco Senior Vice President of Network Strategy Will Patterson said of the purchase. “We have identified many opportunities to expand our terminal operations and rail presence with these new sites and look forward to further developing operations with our customers.”
“This group of terminals provides yet another great opportunity to grow with our customers,” added Watco Chief Operating Officer Dan Smith.
John Schlosser, president of Kinder Morgan Terminals, said the sale will allow his company to “monetize non-core assets, representing less than 2 percent of the segment’s earnings, on attractive terms, while giving employees at those terminals an opportunity to work on assets that are core to Watco’s business.”
Wells Fargo Securities, LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to Kinder Morgan on the transaction.
A full list of the purchased terminal operations is below:
• Amory Bulk Terminal, Amory, Miss.
• Black Hawk Terminal, Waterloo, Iowa
• Blytheville Terminal, Blytheville, Ark.
• Camden Terminal, Camden, N.J.
• Chicago Ferro, Chicago
• Cincinnati Bulk/Liquids (River T), Cincinnati
• Columbus Terminal, Columbus, Miss.
• Cora Terminal, Rockwood, Ill.
• Decatur Ferro Terminal, Trinity, Ala.
• Decatur River Port, Trinity, Ala.
• Gateway Warehouse, St. Louis, Mo.
• Grand Rivers, Grand Rivers, Ky.
• Guntersville Bulk Terminal, Guntersville, Ala.
• Kinder Morgan Cahokia Terminal, Sauget, Ill.
• Meramec Services, Sauget, Ill.
• Owensboro Gateway Terminal – East, Hawesville, Ky.
• Port Newark Terminal, Port Newark, N.J.
• Port of Memphis Bulk Terminal, Memphis, Tenn.
• West Memphis Reload, West Memphis, Ark.
• West Memphis Terminal, Memphis, Ark.
Watco to acquire 20 U.S. bulk terminals from Kinder Morgan
