G&W clinches short line acquisition
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefGreenwich, Conn.-based Genesee & Wyoming Inc. on Thursday said it has completed its acquisition of the Arizona Eastern Railway (AZER) from Iowa Pacific Holdings, LLC for $90.1 million in cash, subject to adjustment for final working capital.
AZER is composed of two rail lines operating 265 track miles in southeast Arizona and southwest New Mexico that are connected by 52 miles of trackage rights over the Union Pacific Railroad. The Arizona Eastern line serves the copper mining regions of eastern Arizona, and also agricultural areas of the Gila River Valley and the east end of the Phoenix metropolitan area.
The Arizona Eastern was chartered in 1895 as the Gila Valley, Globe & Northern, and was constructed between Bowie and Miami, Ariz., about 133 route-miles. In the final two decades of the 20th Century, it changed hands several times. Iowa Pacific Holdings says that when it purchased the short line in 2004, “it was in severely deteriorated condition.” It added, “IPH worked with all stakeholders to improve track and bridge conditions, and to develop additional freight business.”
In 2008, the Arizona Eastern purchased right-of-way between Clifton, Ariz., and Lordsburg, N.M., and connected through trackage rights over the Union Pacific to the original Bowie line.
