Latest news with #Wells
Yahoo
a day 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
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Coahoma softball downs Lexington for third consecutive state championship
AUSTIN — Once again, Coahoma is on top of the Texas softball world. The Bulldogettes won their third consecutive state championship with a 6-1 victory over Lexington in the Class 3A Division II title game Thursday at McCombs Field. Texas signee Hannah Wells was voted MVP after a 2-for-3 outing with a double and a home run. She also earned the win with eight strikeouts in a complete game. Advertisement Wells crushed the game's first pitch for a double, and two batters later Mia Clemmer opened the scoring with her own double. Lexington answered with a run on three hits in the home half of the first, but Coahoma scored the contest's final five runs. Wells allowed three hits the rest of the way and totaled two walks. Her towering shot in the third gave the Bulldogettes the lead for good. The future Longhorn became emotional seconds after the final out. "It's sad. I know that's terrible to say, but I am actually really sad," Wells said. "It's the best group of seniors in the game of softball, I think, for high school. And that shows with three state championships back to back. It's so surreal." Advertisement Wells played seven games at McCombs Field throughout her career, and that number will soon skyrocket. "I've played a lot of games here. It's my favorite place to be," Wells said. "I love the atmosphere. I just love Texas softball as a whole, so getting to come here is just a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'm so glad I get to do it." Clemmer, a Texas commit, capped the scoring with a solo homer in the sixth. She went 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Nevaeh Kerby, one of six seniors, tied Clemmer with a team-high two RBIs. Coahoma became the first softball team in UIL history to win three state championships in a row. Corpus Christi Calallen will look to match the feat Friday. Advertisement "It's a fitting end for these senior kids," Bulldogettes coach Alexander Orosco said, "that just bust their tails and do things the right way. It was fitting for them to get here and do it one more time." The Coahoma softball team celebrates after a win over Lexington in the Class 3A Division II state championship Thursday, May 29, 2025, at McCombs Field in Austin. This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Hannah Wells, Coahoma softball win third-straight state championship
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Aviation history from WWII era relived this weekend at Hagerstown Aviation Museum
HAGERSTOWN, Md. () — With the weekend approaching, it may well be worth your while to take a step back in time to revisit Hagerstown's place in World War II aviation history. The Hagerstown Aviation Museum is showcasing Friday through Sunday, the only two World War II super-bombers remaining. 'That B-29 is a special aircraft,' Mark Novak, chief pilot of the imposing plane, said. 'It's pretty special. Of the 4,000 built, only two are left.' Hagerstown City Council poised to approve tax hike As executive director of the B-29, Josh Wells said the plane has a distinctive attachment to Hagerstown, home to Fairchild Aircraft Manufacturing until 1984. 'Hagerstown has a special place in aviation history and our nation's air power strength,' Wells said. Visitors to the Hagerstown Aviation Museum this weekend can relive the city's glory years as a center for aircraft manufacturing. 'Visitors this weekend will get an up-close and personal touch and feel for the aircraft,' Wells said. 'And take a ride in these historic airplanes, well, it really brings history to life.' Rides on the planes will leave an indelible impression, Novak said. 'You see it and hear it start and watch it fly and take a ride on it and, well, it's quite an experience,' Novak said. And don't forget that museum tour. After pandemic struggles, Hagerstown is upbeat about revived local economy You are going to experience history,' Monica Miller with the museum said. 'It's really special because the aircraft we have on display were made right here. There's aren't too many museums that can say that.' Tours and plane rides are offered this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Visit Hagerstown Aviation Museum for more information. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
UK car production falls sharply in April
The number of vehicles manufactured in the UK fell sharply last month, as tariffs and the timing of Easter hit production. The 59,203 vehicles made was the lowest April output for more than 70 years, with the exception of 2020, when production effectively stopped during the Covid lockdown. The Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said a wider change in the industry as it shifts from petrol cars to electric vehicles (EVs) had also temporarily reduced output. However, new trade deals with the US, EU and India may help boost upcoming production, the industry group said. The April figure was 16% lower than the same month last year, and 25% lower than March, when numbers were likely to have been boosted by manufacturers shipping more cars to the US before President Trump's tariffs kicked in. The fact that Easter fell in April this year, which meant there were fewer working days, was also a factor, the SMMT said. The lowest April output before that - outside the pandemic - was back in 1952, when 53,517 vehicles were produced. Car production for exports fells by 10.1%, said the SMMT, driven by falls in demand from the UK's biggest export markets the US and EU. The group said the total number of vehicles manufactured in the UK for the first four months of the year was the lowest since 2009. The downward trend in production is similar in other countries, said Prof Peter Wells, director of the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University. "There are concerns in Germany, Italy, France and Japan," he told the BBC. "So I would emphasise that there is this bigger picture going on, and it's not purely a UK phenomenon." However, some of the global pressures may be stronger in the UK, Prof Wells said, such as fewer trade barriers against Chinese imports compared to the EU and US. The UK government's change in policy over encouraging more manufacturing of EVs had also made planning more difficult for carmakers, he added. In April, the UK announced plans to relax sales targets for EVs and reduce fines for cars that do not meet certain emissions standards. In recent years, the UK has seen producers such as Honda and Ford shut down plants. Last year, Stellantis - which makes Vauxhall, Citroen and Peugeot cars - warned it may have to halt UK production due to uncertainty over the government's approach to EVs. "What industry always wants is stability and clarity in policy, whether it's tariffs or electrification or any other issue," said Prof Wells. "For me at least, it remains a volatile environment in that sense."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wells Fargo's Scharf assured over asset cap's potential end
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter. Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf expressed confidence Wednesday that the bank is inching closer to the point it will be freed from the $1.95 trillion asset cap it's operated under for seven years. Just two consent orders remain for Wells, including the growth constraint imposed by the Federal Reserve in 2018. Scharf, speaking Wednesday at a Bernstein conference, seemed to suggest the cap will be lifted sooner than later. 'Our level of confidence in terms of where we are and how far we are down that road is extremely high,' Scharf said. 'We're not done, but we're a hell of a lot closer to the end than the beginning, at this point.' There's been plenty of speculation that 2025 will be the year Wells is freed from the growth restriction. Analyst Ken Usdin noted the bank is 'closer and closer to emerging from what's been a very inward-focused period of time for the company,' as it's overhauled risk management and internal controls to satisfy its various regulatory orders. The regulatory clampdown followed a scandal in which employees of the San Francisco-based lender opened millions of fake customer accounts to hit sales targets. Wells is spending about $2 billion annually on its risk and control agenda, and has simplified its business, exiting some areas with lower returns or lackluster growth rates. The bank has also brought in a number of fresh faces – 150 of the bank's top 220 people are new – establishing the 'proper risk mindset' at the company, Scharf said. Six consent orders have been cleared this year, and 12 since 2019, when Scharf became CEO. Lifting the asset cap and the ultimate consent order are two different decision points for the Fed, and Scharf said he couldn't speak for the central bank's timing. He noted, though, that most of the work completed for other now-closed consent orders is 'foundational' to those that remain. 'Those are just very good proof points for you all to say we're much closer to that order being lifted than…something other than that,' the CEO said. 'We feel very, very confident that it's going to get lifted.' With the removal of that limitation on the horizon, the bank is preparing to pounce on growth in its retail deposits business. Given the fake-accounts scandal, sales practices were 'front and center' among the bank's issues, Scharf said, so the bank had to 'literally scale back almost everything that we were doing to drive growth in the retail system, and then rebuild it from the bottom up.' During a multiyear period, the bank 'didn't have branch [profits and losses], we didn't have sales reporting, we weren't focused on expanding the product set, improving the digital capabilities, because we were so focused on creating the right infrastructure to satisfy the regulators – appropriately so – so that they and we could be comfortable, when we turn these things back on, that we could grow properly,' he said. The closure of the sales practices consent order 'was a hugely important point,' revealing regulators' comfort level, allowing Wells to re-create an environment where the bank can focus on doing more for customers, he said. Wells is particularly focused on primary checking account growth, Scharf said. 'We worked really hard to try and preserve share before; now the focus has gone to, what do we have to do to increase share?' he said. To do that, the bank has changed compensation plans and introduced reporting; simplified its product set and segmented it to serve more and less affluent customers; is spending 'significantly more' on marketing; and is focused on improving its branch experience while bolstering digital capabilities, he said. Each of the bank's segments – consumer and small-business banking, consumer lending, wealth management, commercial banking and corporate and investment banking – 'should be growing faster than they're growing today and have higher returns,' Scharf said. When the asset cap is eventually lifted, 'there's no light switch' related to the bank's growth trajectory, he said. But 'it does lift a cloud that exists around Wells,' as the cap has limited the bank, both tangibly and in mindset. The bank has been constrained in its ability to take commercial deposits, for example, and its corporate and investment bank growth has been limited. 'The scarlet letter goes away, and we're not differentiated from the other companies out there,' and bankers can think more aggressively, Scharf added. A caveat on his growth and earnings assertion: He stressed that the bank is exercising caution with home lending, 'where you can chase short-term returns and chase growth and it can turn out very, very badly for you in the future,' and is more focused on building it as a relationship product; and with auto lending, 'where we're focused on returns, not growth.' Scharf also noted the asset cap isn't a constraint on loan growth, because the demand isn't there and hasn't been for several years. 'When you look at all of the lending that's being done outside of the banking system, why do banks not see the demand, but there's this huge demand that exists outside?' he said, pointing to the growth of private credit, which has ballooned to a $1.6 trillion industry. 'That is an interesting question, which we also think the regulators need to look at, in terms of what is driving that?' Scharf said.
