• News

Supply Side: Greenbrier; Railroad Software/Automated Rail

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Through GBX Leasing, The Greenbrier Companies and The Longwood Group are developing an owned portfolio of leased railcars that will be primarily built by Greenbrier.

Through GBX Leasing, The Greenbrier Companies and The Longwood Group are developing an owned portfolio of leased railcars that will be primarily built by Greenbrier.

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. has completed the first offering of railcar asset-backed securities and long-term financing for GBX Leasing, its joint venture with The Longwood Group. Also, Railroad Software and Automated Rail have formed a strategic partnership.

Greenbrier and Longwood, a Chicago-based transportation equipment advisory and asset management firm, announced their railcar leasing joint venture in early 2021. Through GBX Leasing, they are developing an owned portfolio of leased railcars that will be primarily built by Greenbrier.

Greenbrier reported on Feb. 9 that GBX Leasing’s wholly owned subsidiary GBX Leasing 2022-1 LLC “issued an aggregate principal amount of $323.3 million of its Series 2022-1 Class A and Class B Notes … with a blended interest rate of 2.9%. The Notes have a weighted average life of approximately six years. The transaction is secured by nearly 4,500 railcars with a fair market value of $413 million and their associated operating leases. The railcar securitization will be consolidated on Greenbrier’s balance sheet but is non-recourse to Greenbrier.”

“The strong response from investors produced excellent terms for GBXL’s [GBX Leasing’s] first asset-backed securitization,” Greenbrier Chairman and CEO William A. Furman said. “The quality of this transaction demonstrates the respect and confidence engendered by Greenbrier’s leasing capabilities and the current strength of railcar securitizations in the debt market. All debt associated with GBXL’s leasing warehouse will be extinguished with the proceeds of this financing. This positions GBXL for robust fleet growth through 2022, creating scale for our leasing strategy going forward. Stable cash flows from leasing bolster Greenbrier’s integrated business model, allowing us to more fully capitalize on growing momentum in the North American freight railcar market.”

Railroad Software and Automated Rail will link their technologies to help customers automate rail yards.

Partners Railroad Software and Automated Rail will bring together their respective TrackAsset™ software/RTMS™ software and Denali AEI (Automatic Equipment Identification) reader technology to help automate rail yards and lower demurrage costs, according to the Georgia-based companies, which Jeff Birmingham founded and now leads.

“Automated Rail’s affordable AEI solutions will be a breath of fresh air for the rail industry,” Birmingham said. “While they can be integrated with Railroad Software’s platform, the industry has a desperate need for AEI readers and tablets to integrate with any existing software or business. The cost of the equipment and appliance nature of the devices will make it easy to realize the benefits of utilizing AEI readers in a rail logistics operation.”

Tags: , ,