Luminus Management LLC has acquired Mexico-based carrier Jaguar Transportation, a former subsidiary of bankrupt carrier Celadon, in an all-cash stock purchase transaction.
The acquisition includes over 775 tractor-trailers and five freight facilities throughout Mexico, according to a news release. Jaguar Transportation, a trucking company focused on cross-border trade with the U.S., is based in Monterrey, Mexico.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Jaguar Transportation will remain headquartered in Monterrey, and the current management team will remain.
“This investment is a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on strong tailwinds in cross-border trade while tapping into a strong network of industrial companies who want a long-term partner to serve their logistical needs,” Carlos Treistman, general counsel of Luminus and newly appointed general counsel of Jaguar, said in a statement.
Luminus Management is an investment management firm founded in 2002 with offices in New York and Houston.
The transaction was completed in partnership with private equity firm Lilium Group LLC and Gateway Transport Investments LLC, a consortium of Mexican investors active in the industrial and transportation sectors.
Officials for Lilium said Jaguar Transportation is well positioned to capitalize on both U.S. and Mexican customers.
“Jaguar is a unique asset in North American transportation,” Peterson Hawkins, partner at Lilium Group and executive chairman of Jaguar, said in a statement. “The Mexican domestic economy continues to strengthen, and we expect that operations of multinational businesses in the vicinity of the U.S. border will grow ever more rapidly.”
Jaguar Transportation holds the only active neutral foreign investment permit which allows a majority U.S.-owned company to operate with the same flexibility as a Mexico-based carrier, according to a news release.
The carrier has trucking terminals in Monterrey, Mexico City, Nuevo Laredo, San Luis Potosi and Guadalajara.
Jaguar Transportation was founded in 1975 in Monterrey. Celadon Group Inc. acquired the carrier in 1992 and renamed the company Servicios de Transportation Jaguar SA de CV (Jaguar Transportation Services).
Celadon closed in December 2019, becoming the largest truckload carrier in U.S. history to file bankruptcy. The north-south truckload carrier had 2,695 trucks, including 2,000 in the United States, 360 in Canada and 335 in Mexico.
When Celadon closed, Jaguar Transportation Services stayed in business in Mexico, according to court documents.
“Recently, the Mexican debtors’ employees recommenced limited operations of the Mexican business using cash proceeds of accounts receivable generated and collected by the Mexican debtors,” Celadon said in a 2020 court filing.
Luminus Management has previous ties to both Celadon and Jaguar Transportation Services.
In 2019, Luminus Management acquired a nearly 50% interest in Celadon after injecting $165 million to help the struggling carrier refinance its debt as part of a restructuring plan just months before the company closed.
In May 2020, White Willow Holdings — which was backed by Luminus Management — bid $2.4 million in an attempt to purchase Celadon’s Mexican businesses, including Jaguar Transportation Services.
Celadon sold Jaguar Transportation Services to Jaguar Transport Inc. in a deal worth $6.8 million in June 2020.
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