A partnership composed of Related Infrastructure, Brookhaven Rail Partners and Stephens Capital Partners have acquired Pioneer Railcorp, a railroad holding company that owns short-line railroads and several other railroad-related businesses in the United States.
The purchase was made through the companies’ partnership, BRX Transportation Holdings, which was formed specifically to purchase Pioneer as a platform investment, according to Related Infrastructure.
The joint venture intends to invest additional capital to upgrade Pioneer’s existing infrastructure and grow Pioneer’s franchise through industrial development and the expansion of services to its customers. It will also look to acquire additional short-line railroad companies in the future.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Pioneer is the parent company of 15 short-line common carrier railroad operations, an equipment leasing company, two service companies and a contract services switching company. It operates across 12 states and services a diverse set of customers with a wide array of cargo, ranging from agriculture to finished products.
With the acquisition, BRX partner Alex Yeros will lead Pioneer as its new CEO, while Ross Grantham will serve as COO and Carrie Genualdi as CFO.
Yeros will bring three decades of experience acquiring and growing railroads and other rail-related businesses to the role, having worked as CIO and held other industrial development roles at leading short-line railroad company OmniTRAX.
Additionally, Genualdi joins Pioneer after serving more than a decade at Genesee & Wyoming as a director of finance, and Grantham has more than 20 years of experience in overseeing operations at both Class I and short-line railroads.
“Short-line railroads play a key role in our country’s transportation infrastructure and are critical to the national and global economy,” said Andrew Right, managing partner of Related Instructure.
