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Bloomberg
Blackstone Infrastructure Partners bought out the controlling shareholders of Carrix Inc., one of the world’s largest marine-terminal operators.
The families had been weighing a sale of their holding in the Seattle-based firm, Bloomberg reported in June. The stake was expected to fetch $2.5 billion.
“The Smith/Hemingway family sold its shares to Blackstone Infrastructure Partners,†Bob Watters, a Carrix spokesman, said in an emailed statement.
Founded in 1949 by middle-school dropout Fred Smith, Carrix was previously co-run by his son Ricky Smith, who later handed the reins over to Jon Hemingway, his nephew and Fred Smith’s grandson, according to a company representative. Hemingway, who joined the company in 1985, became president and chief executive officer in 1991. In 2012, Hemingway became chairman after hiring Knud Stubkjaer as CEO.
Marine terminals have been in favour as global supply-chain issues highlight the crucial
nature of transportation and
logistics assets.
Last week, French shipping company CMA CGM SA agreed to buy out the majority owners of Fenix Marine Services, which operates a container terminal in the Port of Los Angeles, in a deal with an enterprise value of $2.3 billion. CMA CGM already owned a 10% stake. In a similar transaction, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in September agreed to acquire control of Ports America, the largest US terminal operator, in which it previously owned a minority stake.
Carrix is the parent of SSA Marine, which operates more than 200 port and rail locations in Panama, Chile, Mexico and Canada, as well as US cities including Oakland and Long Beach, California.