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FILE PHOTO: People walk to Brookfield Place off Bay Street on the day of the annual general meeting for Brookfield Asset Management shareholders in Toronto, May 7, 2014. REUTERS/Mark Blinch/File Photo
(Reuters) – Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Inc (BAMa.TO) and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC on Monday agreed to buy U.S. freight railroad owner Genesee & Wyoming Inc (GWR.N) for about $6.4 billion in cash.
Brookfield and GIC’s offer of $112 per share represents a premium of 12% to Genesee’s closing price on Friday. Genesee shares were up 9%.
Including debt, the deal is valued at about 8.4 billion, the companies said in a statement.
Genesee & Wyoming’s revenue have increased at a compound annual growth rate of 16.8% since it floated in the stock market in 1996, rising to $2.3 billion in 2018 from $77.8 million, according to Genesee & Wyoming’s latest annual report.
The company owns a portfolio of 120 short-line railroads, predominantly in North America, with operations in Europe and Australia.
Reuters had reported on the deal on Sunday, citing sources.
The deal, which is expected to close by year end or early 2020, would be the latest big leveraged buyout by Brookfield, which agreed last year to buy Johnson Controls International Plc’s (JCI.N) power solutions business for about $13 billion.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc served as the financial adviser to Brookfield and GIC, while BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley & Co LLC advised Genesee.
Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva
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