NEW YORK, July 8, 2004 - Castle Harlan, Inc., the New York private-equity investment firm, announced today it had completed the purchase of Horizon Lines Holding Corp., one of the largest U.S. container shipping companies, in a transaction valued at approximately $650 million.
The company, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, operates 16 vessels and approximately 21,700 cargo containers that handle 37 percent of marine container shipments from the U.S. mainland to ports in Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico, and is the only Jones Act vessel operator serving all of those markets.
Horizon is the largest container shipping company operating under the Jones Act, which requires that maritime trade between U.S. ports be conducted exclusively by companies owned and organized in the U.S., that use ships built and registered in the U.S., and that employ predominantly U.S. crews.
Marcel Fournier, a Castle Harlan managing director, said senior management would remain in place and would continue to own an interest in the company.
Horizon recorded revenues in fiscal 2003 of more than $830 million, up 9.6 percent from the previous year, Fournier said.
Castle Harlan acquired the company from The Carlyle Group, a private-equity investment firm based in Washington, D.C., that bought the company from CSX Corporation in February 2003.
Castle Harlan has completed three acquisitions totaling $1.37 billion in the past two weeks. Last week, the firm closed on the purchase of Caribbean Restaurants, LLC (CRI), operator of 165 Burger King restaurants in Puerto Rico, for $340 million. CRI is the market leader and the most successful quick-service restaurant franchise on the island.
Also last week, Castle Harlan completed the acquisition of Ames True Temper, a leading manufacturer of lawn and garden tools and accessories in a $380 million transaction.
All three acquisitions were purchased by Castle Harlan Partners IV, L.P., an investment fund totaling $1.163 billion in commitments that closed last August.
Founded in 1987, Castle Harlan is a leading New York private-equity investment firm, investing primarily in controlling interests in the buyout and development of middle-market companies in North America and Europe. Castle Harlan's team of nine managing directors, including its founders, has completed more than 60 acquisitions with a total value in excess of $7 billion. The firm traces its roots to the start of the institutionalized private-equity business in the late 1960s.
Castle Harlan also invests in Australia, New Zealand and the Australasian region through its Sydney-based affiliate, CHAMP, which is one of Australia's oldest and largest private equity firms.
Castle Harlan's portfolio companies, which employ more than 26,000 people, include AdobeAir, Inc., a leading manufacturer of evaporative coolers; Associated Packaging Technologies, the country's leading manufacturer of CPET containers for the frozen food industry; and Advanced Accessory Systems, the largest manufacturer of automotive roof racks and tow systems in North America and Europe.