RailAmerica, Inc., based in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...
, was a
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
of a number of
short-line railroads and regional railroads in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
and
Canada
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.
In 2007, RailAmerica was acquired by
Fortress Investment Group. Before that, it traded on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
with the
ticker symbol RRA. It was relisted in October 2009 with the ticker symbol RA.
On June 30, 2010, the company announced that it had acquired
Atlas Railroad Construction
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.
Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographi ...
, a construction and maintenance company operating in the Northeast and Midwest United States, for US$24 million.
In April 2011, RailAmerica made its first shortline purchase in over five years by initiating a deal with
Gulf and Ohio Railways to acquire three Alabama shortlines for $12.7 million.
On July 23, 2012,
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. announced that it intended to purchase RailAmerica in a deal valued at
$1.39 billion. Approval of the purchase was granted by the U.S.
Surface Transportation Board on December 19, 2012. While awaiting the decision, Genesee & Wyoming put RailAmerica control in the hands of a trust. They assumed control on December 28, 2012, and the company was in the process of integration to G&W.
Former subsidiaries
RailAmerica controlled the following railroads. It acquired some through purchase of other holding companies: RailLink Canada in July 1999,
RailTex in February 2000,
ParkSierra and
StatesRail in January 2002, and the rail properties of
Alcoa in September 2005.
In addition to those listed below, RailAmerica's prior owner,
Fortress Investment Group, purchased the
Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) in September 2007 from
Florida East Coast Industries. Although Fortress maintained a level of common control between the two railroads, FEC was never made a formal part of the RailAmerica family, and Fortress did not include FEC in the RailAmerica spinoff.
RailAmerica was founded by Gary O. Marino and John H. Marino in 1986.
References
* RailAmerica (September 9, 2005),
RailAmerica Selected to Acquire Four Railroads from Alcoa; Additionally Announces Lease with CSX Transportation for the 48 Mile Fremont Branch'. Retrieved September 13, 2005.
* Yahoo Finance,
RailAmerica Inc. (RRA)'. Retrieved September 13, 2005.
External links
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Railamerica
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Companies based in Jacksonville, Florida
United States railroad holding companies
Canadian railroad holding companies
Genesee & Wyoming
2007 mergers and acquisitions
2009 initial public offerings
2012 mergers and acquisitions