FAIRFIELD COUNT Y
BUSINESS JOURNAL
YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR LOCAL BUSINESS NEWS • westfaironline.com
FCBJ TODAY “Blend and extend” makes for bland first half in commercial real estate … 2
Vol 48, No. 31 • July 30, 2012
GWI, RailAmerica hook up in $2B deal BY ALEXANDER SOULE
casoule@westfairinc.com
F
or a stated transaction value of $2 billion, Genesee & Wyoming Inc (GWI) is acquiring RailAmerica Inc., combining the two largest short-line and regional rail operators in North America. Greenwich-based GWI is paying an 11 percent premium for RailAmerica, funding the deal in part via up to $800 million of equity financing from The Carlyle Group, a private equity fund based in Washington, D.C. BofA
Merrill Lynch is furnishing debt financing as part of the transaction. The deal doubles the size of Genesee & Wyoming, with RailAmerica adding 2,100 employees to boost Genesee & Wyoming’s workforce to 4,300 people in all. The companies say the deal will result in annual savings of at least $36 million, without immediately detailing any layoffs they may pursue in the bid to cut costs. “I’m not going to give gruesome detail,” said Jack Hellmann, CEO of Genesee & Wyoming, in a conference call with invest-
Gold coastal property: Sustaining “First Five” with sixth expansion … 2
Wilton director’s film gains wide audience BY JENNIFER BISSELL
In the field: Crius emerges from the Viridian, Public Power crucible … 8
jbissell@westfairinc.com
The List: Insurance agencies … 12 State rep outlines health plans … 14 Supplement: State of women in finance in Connecticut, N.Y. “I think we probably make as much money as the rest of the industry combined or something like that.” 5
MEDIA PARTNER
GWI, page 6
Story teller
All in the family, CBIA style … 3
Also …
ment analysts. “Suffice it to say it’s principally corporate (cost cuts) and we’ve assumed very, very little in operations. Over time we will unlock those cost synergies in operations. “This is an unusual industry in that you have two large holding companies that look exactly the same and so there’s a lot of duplication,” Hellmann said. “I’ll just leave it at that.” Hellmann did not rule out other U.S. acquisitions, saying the company has financial flexibility to pull off deals. “We can walk and chew gum at the same time, and for the right opportunities I think
Anne Young Albanese
The pink-collar connection BY ALEXANDER SOULE
casoule@westfairinc.com At Dolce Hotels and Resorts in late July, chambers of commerce from Norwalk, Stamford and other towns rubbed elbows at a summer social. Heading into August, the Bridgeport Regional Business Council scheduled “insiders’ looks” at area manufacturing plants for its members.
“A distraught mother jumps through a window to save her son engulfed in flames,” the description reads. “A high school chemistry class explosion derails the life of a star student; an oil refinery worker survives a major blast and a racecar driver makes a miraculous comeback after being pulled from her fiery wreck.” “Trial By Fire: Lives Re-Forged,” a film by a small production company in Wilton, will be showcased at two major exhibits by the International Documentary Association, qualifying it for Academy Award consideration. Now in its 16th year, the exhibit, named
As for Anne Young Albanese? You can find her getting to know her associates while learning a little bit about the craft of moviemaking. Welcome to “Pink Collar” networking, taking root locally after Young Albanese launched a chapter earlier this year of the Femfessionals group that exists for “innovatively connecting ambitious women,” in its words. The pink, page 6
Story teller, page 6
Whistleblowers gone wild … 23