(24 June 2022, USA) – GIC, OMERS Infrastructure and Wren House have announced the signing of an agreement to jointly acquire Direct ChassisLink Inc. (DCLI) from investment funds managed by Apollo and EQT. DCLI is a leading chassis provider in the U.S., enabling over-the-road transportation of containerized freight to and from ports, railyards, and customer locations. Terms of the investment are not being disclosed.
DCLI is one of the largest chassis lessors in the U.S. With over 151,000 marine and 100,000 domestic chassis in its fleet, DCLI operates out of strategic locations across key port and rail terminals in the U.S. DCLI is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and employs approximately 410 employees.
Ang Eng Seng, Chief Investment Officer of Infrastructure, GIC, said: “As a global long-term investor, GIC seeks to invest in world-class companies. GIC is excited to partner with like-minded investors, OMERS Infrastructure and Wren House, to acquire DCLI, one of the largest chassis lessors in the U.S., providing infrastructure to facilitate trade.”
Boon Chin Hau, Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure Americas, GIC, said: “In the U.S., intermodal transportation is on the rise, as companies seek to drive down transport costs and reduce their carbon footprint. As a market-leading chassis lessor, we firmly believe DCLI is well-positioned to capitalize on this growing trend. We look forward to supporting DCLI’s management team as they continue their impressive growth.”
Gisele Everett, Senior Managing Director and Head of Americas, OMERS Infrastructure, said: “We’re pleased to be making this investment on behalf of OMERS alongside GIC and Wren House which, like OMERS Infrastructure, pride themselves on a long-term approach to asset management and value creation. Following the close of the transaction, DCLI will become OMERS Infrastructure’s eighth global investment in transportation and mobility, adding to our portfolio including roads, bridges and ports around the world.”
Philippe Busslinger, CEO of Wren House, said: “We are very excited to invest in DCLI, an exceptional company in the U.S. transport sector. We look forward to a long-term collaboration with its industry-leading management team, GIC and OMERS. This second investment for us in North America supports Wren House’s long‐term goal to build a global quality infrastructure portfolio with outstanding management teams.”
“This agreement underscores the tremendous growth DCLI has enjoyed since our founding in 2012 and all we do to serve the nation’s intermodal transportation system,” said Bill Shea, DCLI CEO. “We thank Apollo and EQT for investing in our success, and look forward to working with OMERS, Wren House and GIC to sustain those investments and do even more to serve our customers’ supply chain needs.”
The closing of the transaction is expected in H2 2022, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
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GIC contact
Katy Conrad
Vice President, Communications
T: +1 212.856.2407
OMERS Infrastructure contact
James Thompson
Director of Communications
E: JaThompson@omers.com
T: +44(0)7443 264 154
Wren House contact
Simone Selzer / Sumeet Desai
Brunswick Group Ltd
+44 (0)207 404 5959 / +44 (0)7515 187438
About GIC
GIC is a leading global investment firm established in 1981 to secure Singapore’s financial future. As the manager of Singapore’s foreign reserves, GIC takes a long-term, disciplined approach to investing and is uniquely positioned across a wide range of asset classes and active strategies globally. These include equities, fixed income, real estate, private equity, venture capital and infrastructure. Its long-term approach, multi-asset capabilities and global connectivity enable it to be an investor of choice. GIC seeks to add meaningful value to its investments. Headquartered in Singapore, GIC has a global talent force of over 1,800 people in 10 key financial cities and has investments in over 40 countries.
About OMERS Infrastructure
OMERS Infrastructure manages investments globally in infrastructure on behalf of OMERS, a defined benefit pension plan for municipal employees in the Province of Ontario, Canada, and third-party investors through its Strategic Partnership Program. OMERS Infrastructure currently has approximately C$32 billion in assets under management and over 30 investments, principally in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific and across sectors including energy, digital services, transportation and government-regulated services. OMERS Infrastructure has employees in Toronto, New York, the U.K., Continental Europe (including Amsterdam, NL), Asia and Australia. More information: www.omersinfrastructure.com.
About Wren House
Wren House is a London-based captive global infrastructure investment manager, with a focus on delivering attractive risk adjusted equity returns through a disciplined investment approach, a long-term responsible investment horizon and active asset management. With a flexible and commercial approach to investment, we have a clear mandate and a long-term view without the need to exit. Wren House has a team of nearly 30 professionals. Our portfolio has included investments in airports, ports, water, energy generation (conventional and renewables), distribution and transmission, social and digital infrastructure and spans 11 countries and over 20,000 employees in the US, UK, Europe, Australia, Central and South America.
Further information on Wren House and its portfolio is available at: http://wrenhouseinfra.com
