Wind Point Partners Acquires Velocity Rail Solutions
Wind Point invests in provider of mission-critical locomotive services to the rail industry
Chicago, Ill., November 25th, 2024 – Wind Point Partners (“Wind Point”), a Chicago-based private equity firm, announced today that it has completed a corporate carveout of Velocity Rail Solutions (“Velocity” or the “Company”), a leading provider of mission-critical locomotive services to the rail industry. Velocity’s core services include mobile refueling, replenishment of locomotive consumable products (e.g., oil, sand and water) and inspection, maintenance and light repair solutions. The Company is a valuable partner to rail customers throughout North America, providing outsourced services via dedicated teams located within customer railyards. Velocity’s services help enable efficient rail operations by reducing network delays and service costs for customers. Velocity operates 75 dedicated sites to serve more than 300 railyards, with 450 employees utilizing over 250 specialized vehicles.
Wind Point is partnering with Velocity management, led by President Jeff Chesler. Together, Wind Point and Velocity leadership intend to invest in organic growth initiatives and pursue strategic acquisitions to expand the Company’s existing offerings. Velocity will also seek acquisitions into other complementary, mission-critical rail-related services for both Class I railroads and industrial shippers.
“This exciting new partnership with Wind Point offers Velocity access to a comprehensive executive network and additional resources that will significantly enhance our ability to grow and better support our customers,” commented Mr. Chesler. “The critical nature of our existing services necessitates an unwavering focus on providing value, safety and reliability to our customers, and we look forward to adding compatible services to our portfolio. The entire Velocity team is very excited as we embark on this next chapter of our journey.”
Jake Behringer, Vice President with Wind Point, noted, “We are thrilled to partner with Jeff and the Velocity team as they lead the Company into a new phase of growth. Velocity has demonstrated impressive momentum while maintaining tremendous operational consistency. We look forward to investing behind the management team’s vision and deepening our relationships within the rail industry to become the preferred outsourced provider across a multitude of high-value services.”
Konrad Salaber, Managing Director with Wind Point, stated, “Wind Point has extensive experience successfully executing corporate carveouts and capturing value through investments in strategic growth. We believe our partnership with Velocity will deliver an increasingly strong value proposition for all stakeholders into the future.”
Wind Point evaluated Velocity alongside a group of advisors with significant experience spanning Class I railroad and railcar services. The Board includes Paul Titterton, who currently serves as Executive Vice President and President of North American Rail at GATX Corporation where he has spent his entire career in various roles. Wind Point will continue exploring additions to Velocity’s Board and leadership team as the platform expands.
Wind Point is an active investor in both the logistics services and maintenance services sectors, with select prior investments including RailWorks, STG Logistics, Quantix, Valicor, Smart Care and D&H United.
Kirkland and Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Wind Point and KPMG LLP provided transaction advisory services.