A fleet of approximately 27,000 over-the-road trailers previously owned by Transport International Pool, Inc. ("TIP"), a subsidiary of General Electric Capital Corporation, was acquired by Wood Creek Capital Management ("Wood Creek"), Bowman Sales and Equipment ("Bowman"), and Milestone Trailer Leasing ("Milestone") the companies announced. The acquisition includes all of TIP's remaining U.S.-based trailers.
The majority of the trailers will be owned by Wood Creek affiliates and managed and operated by Trailer Leasing Alliance ("TLA") and Quest Capital Group ("Quest").
TLA is a newly formed joint venture trailer leasing company owned by Milestone and Bowman and will be staffed by executives with extensive trailer leasing industry experience and national account management capabilities.
Quest is an existing operating partner of Wood Creek and an experienced transportation equipment manager. TLA and Quest will provide high quality services to existing and future trailer lessees and the acquisition group intends to provide additional capital to meet future trailer lessee capacity needs.
"Our acquisition of the TIP trailer fleet expands Wood Creek's transportation footprint beyond existing investments in U.S. intermodal and commercial aviation markets," said Wood Creek President Jonathan Rotolo. "The industry fundamentals, driven by a historically small U.S. trailer fleet, offer attractive returns to our investors and complement our existing transportation investments. We are excited to work together with our partners at Bowman, Milestone and Quest, three of the nation's leading ground transportation players, and we plan to build our presence in the industry."
Wood Creek is an investment manager at the forefront of tangible assets investing. Headquartered in New Haven, CT, Wood Creek is an SEC-registered investment advisor and an affiliate of MassMutual Financial Group.
Dennis Hamill, President of Bowman noted: "Bowman has been very fortunate to be able to continue to take advantage of the trailer leasing market consolidation that has taken place in the U.S. in the last few years and we are totally committed to continuing to provide our customers with the best equipment and service available in the industry."
Bowman Sales & Equipment Inc DBA Bowman Trailer Leasing is the second largest semi-trailer leasing company in the U.S. with a fleet of over 30,000 assets and operates out of 34 branch locations. Based in Hagerstown, MD, Bowman is a full service provider that includes in-house maintenance and delivery/pick-up capabilities in most locations.
Robert Thull, President and co-owner of Milestone added: "This acquisition and the formation of TLA will provide cost-effective rental and lease alternatives to our customers throughout the United States. The combination of Milestone's and Bowman's large regional rental branch infrastructure with the industry-leading TLA executive team will provide exceptional service and trailer capacity to national accounts."
The Milestone companies, including Milestone Equipment Corporation, operate a leased fleet of over 50,000 units of domestic intermodal and highway transportation equipment. Milestone Trailer Leasing, LLC, headquartered in Tiburon, CA, operates 18,000 highway rental trailers through its affiliate, Personal Attention Leasing, Inc. ("PAL"). The company has 19 full service rental branch locations primarily in the Midwestern United States.
Quest Capital Group, LLC, based in Kansas City, MO, is a full-service transportation asset management company specializing in rail-industry domestic equipment, maritime related intermodal equipment, and highway trailers. Asset types include domestic 53' containers, ISO containers, chassis, intermodal trailers, and highway trailers. Quest is a leading manager of leased intermodal equipment in North America.