Washington, D.C. – Texas Central Partners (“Texas Central”) and Amtrak are seeking opportunities to advance planning and analysis work associated with the proposed Dallas-Houston 205-mph high-speed rail project to further determine its viability. Amtrak has cooperated with Texas Central on various initiatives since 2016 and the two entities are currently evaluating a potential partnership to further study and potentially advance the project.
The proposed approximately 240-mile route would offer a total travel time of less than 90 minutes between two of the top five major U.S. metropolitan areas and would complement future, new and improved corridor and long-distance service in the southern region.
Texas Central and Amtrak have submitted applications to several federal programs in connection with further study and design work for the potential Dallas to Houston segment, including the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure Safety and Improvements (CRISI) grant program, the Corridor Identification and Development program, and the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (FSP-National) grant program.
Amtrak has worked with Texas Central since 2016 when it entered into agreements to provide through-ticketing using the Amtrak reservation system and other support services for the planned high-speed rail line.
In addition to current Amtrak service in Texas and planned station improvements, Amtrak submitted grant applications for daily Sunset Limited service and the extension of the Crescentfrom Mississippi through Louisiana and Texas. Amtrak supports Kansas DOT’s Heartland FlyerExtension Corridor Identification and Development (Corridor ID) application that will connect Wichita and communities across Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas to the Amtrak network. Amtrak also supports Texas DOT’s applications for the Texas Triangle (Dallas – Fort Worth – Houston – San Antonio) routes.
PEORIA, Ill., July 19, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Pioneer Railcorp (OTC: PRRR, “Pioneer”), a railroad holding company that owns short-line railroads and several other railroad-related businesses including a railroad equipment company and a contract switching services company, today announced that its shareholders have approved the previously announced definitive merger agreement with BRX Transportation Holdings, LLC (“BRX”), an entity formed by Brookhaven Rail Partners (“Brookhaven”), Related Infrastructure (“Related”) and Stephens Capital Partners LLC (“Stephens”). The proposal to approve the merger agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby was approved with voting results as follows:
Under the terms of the merger agreement, BRX will acquire through merger all of the outstanding shares of Pioneer’s Class A common stock. Shareholders other than Heartland will receive $18.81 per share in cash and the Heartland shares will be cancelled without consideration.
Consummation of the merger remains subject to various closing conditions, including operating performance by Pioneer within a specified working capital floor and debt ceiling. Subject to satisfaction of the closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in late July 2019. Upon closing of the transaction, Pioneer will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of BRX and its Class A common stock will cease trading on the OTC Markets.
Arnold & Porter is acting as legal advisor to BRX in this transaction. BMO Capital Markets is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Pioneer in connection with this transaction and Briggs and Morgan, P.A. is acting as Pioneer’s legal advisor.
About Pioneer Pioneer Railcorp 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. Pioneer and its subsidiaries operate in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. For more information on Pioneer, please visit www.Pioneer-Railcorp.com
About Brookhaven Brookhaven Rail Partners is an affiliate of Denver-based Brookhaven Capital Partners, a privately held, real estate and infrastructure investment and management firm. Brookhaven and its principals have a 25-year track record of investing in, operating and developing critical transportation assets that support industry, and promote new economic development, community investment, and job creation. For more information on Brookhaven, please visit www.BrookhavenPartners.com
PEORIA, Ill., May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Pioneer Railcorp (OTC: PRRR, “Pioneer”), a railroad holding company that owns short-line railroads and several other railroad-related businesses including a railroad equipment company and a contract switching services company, and BRX Transportation Holdings, LLC (“BRX”), an entity formed by Brookhaven Rail Partners (“Brookhaven”) and Related Infrastructure (“Related”), announced entry into a definitive merger agreement under which BRX will acquire Pioneer for $18.81 per share in cash. The agreement, which has been unanimously approved by Pioneer’s independent directors, represents a premium of approximately 100.7% over Pioneer’s closing stock price on May 16, 2019, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the transaction.
“We look forward to this next chapter in Pioneer’s journey and anticipate it will have a bright future under new ownership,” said Mike Carr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pioneer.
“We are excited to partner with Related Infrastructure and to have worked with Pioneer’s management and board on a transaction that brings great value to its shareholders, its customers, and the communities it serves. Pioneer fits perfectly with Brookhaven’s philosophy of identifying opportunities where our hands-on management expertise, proprietary value creation strategies, and deep industry relationships provide us with a competitive advantage and the ability to create value,” said Alex Yeros, Principal of Brookhaven.
Related Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Related Fund Management which has raised over $5 billion of capital across a variety of different investment vehicles and strategies, invests in companies that develop, operate and service transportation infrastructure throughout the United States. Andrew Right, Managing Partner of Related Infrastructure said, “We are pleased to partner with Brookhaven to build a rail-based infrastructure platform. We appreciate the work Mike Carr and his team have done to create the Pioneer portfolio of rail businesses. We look forward to working with Alex and the entire team at Brookhaven, an industry leading team with over 25 years of experience building businesses in the short-line rail industry to further drive expansion of the platform.”
Under the terms of the merger agreement, BRX will acquire through merger all of the outstanding shares of Pioneer’s Class A common stock. Shareholders other than Pioneer’s subsidiary, Heartland Rail Investments LLC, will receive $18.81 per share in cash and the Heartland shares will be canceled without consideration.
In connection with the execution of the merger agreement, certain stockholders of Pioneer, together holding a significant portion of the outstanding shares of common stock of Pioneer, have agreed to vote their shares in favor of the transaction under a voting and support agreement.
The consummation of the merger is subject to various closing conditions, including approval by Pioneer’s shareholders, Surface Transportation Board approval, and operating performance by Pioneer within a specified working capital floor and debt ceiling. The merger is not subject to a financing condition. Subject to satisfaction of the closing conditions, the transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019.
Arnold & Porter is acting as legal advisor to BRX in this transaction. BMO Capital Markets is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Pioneer in connection with this transaction and Briggs and Morgan, P.A. is acting as Pioneer’s legal advisor.
About Pioneer Pioneer Railcorp is the parent company of 17 short-line common carrier railroad operations, an equipment leasing company, two service companies and a contract services switching company. Pioneer and its subsidiaries operate in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. For more information on Pioneer, please visit: http://www.Pioneer-Railcorp.com
About Brookhaven Brookhaven Rail Partners is an affiliate of Denver-based Brookhaven Capital Partners, a privately held, real estate and infrastructure investment and management firm. Brookhaven and its principals have a 25-year track record of investing in, operating and developing critical transportation assets that support industry, and promote new economic development, community investment, and job creation. For more information on Brookhaven, please visit: http://www.BrookhavenPartners.com
