Latest news with #DavidMarks
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wells Fargo Signs a Deal to Sell its $4.4 Billion Rail Asset Portfolio
The $4.4 billion rail equipment leasing division of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) will be sold to a joint venture between Brookfield Infrastructure and GATX Corporation. A team of bankers in suits, discussing the success of the company's banking products. The agreement covers the whole rail operating lease portfolio, which consists of about 105,000 railcars, as well as the rail finance leasing portfolio, which consists of 440 locomotives and 23,000 railcars. According to Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), the deal fits with its plan to streamline operations and will not have a significant effect on its financials. Brookfield Infrastructure will own 70% of the business, with the possibility that GATX Corporation may eventually acquire the entire company. GATX Corporation will oversee operations and initially hold a 30% stake in the business. It's anticipated that the deal will close by Q1 2026. David Marks, executive vice president, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Commercial Banking, commented: "This transaction is consistent with Wells Fargo's ongoing strategy of simplifying our businesses and focusing on products and services that are core to our clients," GATX Corporation acquires operational control, strengthening Brookfield Infrastructure's capital depth and its freight transport infrastructure network. While we acknowledge the potential of WFC to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WFC and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this READ NEXT: and . Disclosure. None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wells Fargo to sell its railcar business for $4.4 billion
Wells Fargo has decided to exit its industry-leading position in the rail equipment leasing market, agreeing to sell its portfolio of railcars to a new joint venture for $4.4 billion. The joint venture between GATX Corp. and Brookfield Infrastructure is financing a portion of the transaction with debt — namely a $3.2 billion term loan and a $250 million revolving credit facility provided by a consortium of lenders, including Wells Fargo Securities. David Marks, an executive vice president with Wells Fargo Commercial Banking, described the deal in a press release as being "consistent with Wells Fargo's ongoing strategy of simplifying our businesses and focusing on products and services that are core to our clients." A Wells spokesperson declined to comment further. The core of Wells' rail equipment leasing assets consists of 105,000 rail cars, which will be managed by Chicago-based GATX, itself a leading rail equipment lessor. Toronto-based Brookfield, one of the world's biggest infrastructure investors, is also acquiring a portfolio of 23,000 rail cars and 440 locomotives from Wells as part of the deal. GATX will manage all of the assets included in the deal. The company will start with a 30% ownership stake in the joint venture, but it holds an option to acquire Brookfield's 70% stake over the next 10 years. "This is a really powerful element of the transaction," GATX President and CEO Robert Lyons said Friday on a conference call with analysts. "It allows us to phase in our investment over time, ensuring we can finance our initial stake and future call options via ordinary cash flows and financing activity." While Wells has been active in rail equipment leasing for more than three decades, its involvement deepened significantly after 2008. First, it acquired First Union Rail as part of its 2008 merger with Wachovia. It expanded further in 2016 by acquiring GE Railcar Services, and it renamed its business Wells Fargo Rail. GATX's Lyons described Wells as "a very experienced, sophisticated lessor with a diversified fleet." The San Francisco-based bank's concentration in freight cars dovetails nicely with GATX's existing emphasis on tanker cars to create a better-balanced combined fleet, Lyons added. "This [deal] makes GATX the unquestioned leader in this space," Paul Titterton, president of GATX's Rail North America subsidiary, said on the conference call. The deal with Wells is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, though GATX is hopeful that it can be completed more quickly. "We're all motivated to make it happen sooner," Lyons said. For Wells, the sale of its rail equipment assets fits into a larger simplification trend. The $1.9 trillion-asset company has been narrowing its focus to business lines that it believes provide the best pathway to increased growth and profitability. "I had the opportunity with this management team, when we came to the company, to decide what we think fits and what didn't," Wells CEO Charlie Scharf said Wednesday during a presentation at a conference in New York. "We exited businesses that we thought were low-returning businesses over the cycles. We exited businesses that we didn't think had the right kind of growth rates that didn't make sense for us to invest in." Wells is the second big bank in the past two years to announce a plan to exit the rail equipment leasing business. PNC Financial Services Group struck a deal to sell its railcar portfolio to Amergin Rail in September 2023. According to GATX, rail equipment lessors control about 57% of the nearly 1.7 million railcars in North America. Financial institutions have traditionally been active in the business, and a number of them remain so — most prominently First Citizens BancShares, through its CIT Rail subsidiary, and JPMorgan Chase. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wells Fargo to sell rail leasing business
Wells Fargo will sell its rail leasing equipment business to a new joint venture of GATX Corp. and Brookfield Infrastructure, the financial company announced Thursday. The joint venture will purchase approximately 105,000 railcars for $4.4 billion; Brookfield (NYSE: BIP) will separately acquire the Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) rail finance portfolio of approximately 23,000 cars and 400 locomotives, according to GATX. 'This transaction is consistent with Wells Fargo's ongoing strategy of simplifying our businesses and focusing on products and services that are core to our clients,' David Marks, executive vice president with Wells Fargo Commercial Banking, said in a press release. GATX (NYSE: GATX) will own 30% of the joint venture and will manage the equipment from both the joint venture and the separate Brookfield transaction. GATX, which has an extensive international rail equipment leasing business, has an option to eventually acquire 100% ownership of the joint venture.'This is an outstanding opportunity to build on GATX's leading North American platform,' GATX CEO Robert C. Lyons said in a press release. '… Importantly, by acquiring the assets in this manner, we will maintain the financial flexibility and capacity to continue growing all of our businesses while capitalizing on the value creation opportunities inherent in the assets acquired.' Brookfield, an international firm with 67% of its operations in North America, is owner of shortline holding company Genesee & Wyoming. Its holdings operate more than 22,500 miles of rail lines worldwide. The transaction is expected to close by the first quarter of 2026. Related:Railcar lessor GATX profit up on fleet utilization, lease renewal rates The post Wells Fargo to sell rail leasing business appeared first on FreightWaves. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wells Fargo Signs a Deal to Sell its $4.4 Billion Rail Asset Portfolio
The $4.4 billion rail equipment leasing division of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) will be sold to a joint venture between Brookfield Infrastructure and GATX Corporation. A team of bankers in suits, discussing the success of the company's banking products. The agreement covers the whole rail operating lease portfolio, which consists of about 105,000 railcars, as well as the rail finance leasing portfolio, which consists of 440 locomotives and 23,000 railcars. According to Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), the deal fits with its plan to streamline operations and will not have a significant effect on its financials. Brookfield Infrastructure will own 70% of the business, with the possibility that GATX Corporation may eventually acquire the entire company. GATX Corporation will oversee operations and initially hold a 30% stake in the business. It's anticipated that the deal will close by Q1 2026. David Marks, executive vice president, Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) Commercial Banking, commented: "This transaction is consistent with Wells Fargo's ongoing strategy of simplifying our businesses and focusing on products and services that are core to our clients," GATX Corporation acquires operational control, strengthening Brookfield Infrastructure's capital depth and its freight transport infrastructure network. While we acknowledge the potential of WFC to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than WFC and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this READ NEXT: and . Disclosure. None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Reuters
6 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Wells Fargo signs deal to sell $4.4 billion rail assets portfolio
May 29 (Reuters) - Wells Fargo (WFC.N), opens new tab said on Thursday it has signed a deal to sell its rail equipment leasing business to a newly formed joint venture between railcar lessor GATX Corporation (GATX.N), opens new tab and Brookfield Infrastructure (BIP.N), opens new tab. The deal, which the U.S. banking giant said will not have a material impact on its financial position or earnings, includes the entire rail operating lease assets valued at around $4.4 billion, as well as the rail finance lease portfolio. "This transaction is consistent with Wells Fargo's ongoing strategy of simplifying our businesses and focusing on products and services that are core to our clients," said David Marks, executive vice president, Wells Fargo Commercial Banking. In a separate statement, GATX and Brookfield Infrastructure said the rail operating lease portfolio includes roughly 105,000 railcars. Additionally, Brookfield Infrastructure has also agreed to acquire Wells Fargo's rail finance lease portfolio, composed of roughly 23,000 railcars and around 440 locomotives. GATX will initially own 30% and Brookfield Infrastructure 70% of the joint venture, with the former having the option to acquire full ownership over time. GATX will have commercial and operational control, and manage all joint venture assets. The companies said they expect the deal to close in the first quarter of 2026 or sooner.
