The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has approved the application of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. to control RailAmerica, Inc., and its railroads, effective Dec. 28, 2012.
On that same date, if no stay requests are made by the Dec. 24 deadline set by the STB, GWI plans to dissolve the voting trust that has controlled RailAmerica since it acquired the company for $1.37 billion earlier this year. GWI would then assume direct control of RailAmerica and begin integration of the two companies.
Although the STB received several requests to apply conditions to the acquisition, it merely imposed a requirement that GWI and RailAmerica “adhere to all of the representations made on the record” during the proceeding. It also stated that the control application is subject to labor protective requirements set forth in Wisconsin Central—Acquisition Exemption—Lines of Union Pacific Railroad, 2 S.T.B. 218 (1997), because the deal involves “the control of one or more Class III rail carriers and one Class II rail carrier.”