Element Financial (“Element” or the “Company”), announced that it has completed its second railcar portfolio acquisition with the purchase of a further US$396 million worth of leased railcars from Dallas-based Trinity Industries, the leading railcar manufacturer in North America.
“Element is in the business of re-equipping North American industry with the capital assets needed to support the US recovery and drive continued economic growth,” said Steven K. Hudson, Element’s Chairman and CEO. “Through the strategic relationships that we have developed with Trinity Industries and other leading equipment manufacturers serving the North American industrial heartland, together with the positive impact of US/Canadian exchange rates, we expect to originate more than $3.8 billion of new equipment loans and leases in 2014 including a total of $1.35 billion in railcar assets of which approximately US$1 billion is expected from our Trinity alliance,” added Mr. Hudson.
Including the initial tranche of US$105 million worth of leased railcars acquired from Trinity last December, Element’s current US$501 million railcar portfolio is comprised of 4,878 railcars representing a variety of different railcar types. The portfolio composition is consistent with the diversification criteria established by Element further to the strategic alliance agreement it entered into with Trinity last December. Element anticipates the completion of an additional railcar portfolio acquisition from Trinity in the first quarter of 2014.
“A diversified portfolio of railcar leases delivers yields that we believe will significantly accelerate our march toward a return on equity for Element’s shareholders in the range of 15% to 17%,” said Mr. Hudson. “The long-life nature of these assets, the very strong credit quality of the lessees together with the low operating expense base required to grow and manage the portfolio make railcar financing a perfect complement to our four other business verticals – commercial finance, vendor finance, aviation finance and fleet management. As we seek to leverage up our balance sheet, we are actively pursuing additional growth opportunities in each of these verticals,” added Mr. Hudson.
With total assets of approximately $3.3 billion, Element Financial Corporation is one of North America’s leading equipment finance companies. Element operates across North America in five verticals of the equipment finance market – Commercial Finance, Vendor Finance, Aviation Finance, Railcar Finance and Fleet Management.