Jaguar Holdings complete short line railroad mega deal

Jaguar Holdings has acquired five short line railroad companies.

Jaguar Transport Holdings (Jaguar) and The Western Group (TWG) have announced that Jaguar has acquired five short line railroads and a railroad construction and maintenance company from TWG. Jaguar is partnered with OPSEU Pension Plan Trust Fund (OPTrust), which invests and manages one of Canada’s largest pension funds and has significant experience investing in the surface transportation and logistics space. The Western Group, a rail transportation services company founded in 1972 by Dave Durbano, is headquartered in Ogden, Utah.  

The railroads being acquired are:

• Cimarron Valley Railroad in southwest Kansas, northern Oklahoma, and eastern Colorado;
• Washington Eastern Railroad in eastern Washington;
• Texas and Eastern Railroad with operations between Rusk and Palestine, Texas, along with the Texas State Railroad;
• Southwestern Railroad in southern New Mexico; and
• Oregon Eastern Railroad in eastern Oregon.

Also being acquired is The Western Railroad Builders, a railroad engineering, design, construction, and maintenance firm with industrial and railroad clients.

Jaguar, a transportation and logistics service company founded in 2018, headquartered in Joplin, Missouri, took over operations on Nov. 1, 2020. Jaguar’s entrepreneurial approach focuses on customers and the ability of the Jaguar team to identify new opportunities to grow the business.  

“We are proud and excited to have the opportunity to serve the customers, communities, and partners involved with these properties. With our focus on ‘earning the right to grow,’ Jaguar will create long-term value for all stakeholders,” said Jaguar’s CEO Stu Towner.

“Selling our companies, some of which were crafted from the ground up 50 years ago, was a tough decision,” commented Durbano, “but we have confidence that Jaguar was the right company to carry on what we started. In addition to the railroad entities, they acquired a great number of talented and energetic people under a powerful management team whom we are confident will help Jaguar grow and prosper.”

Read more articles on short line railroads.