NEW YORK, December 2 -- Castle Harlan, Inc., the New York merchant bank, announced today that an investment fund it manages had completed the purchase, with management, of the Statia group of marine terminal companies from Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX) for $210 million.
David B. Pittaway, a managing director at Castle Harlan, said the companies will be combined as Statia Terminals Group N.V., and will be one of the world's largest independent marine terminal companies. Its headquarters will be in Deerfield Beach, Florida.
Castle Harlan had announced September 25 the agreement to make the purchase.
Statia's three large storage and transshipment facilities are located on the island of St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles; in Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, Canada; and in Brownsville, Texas. The Caribbean and Canadian facilities accommodate the world's largest oil tankers.
Statia provides terminal storage and other services for crude oil, refined products and other bulk liquids to crude oil producers, integrated oil companies, oil traders and refiners and petrochemical companies.
Pittaway said the company's revenues had grown through acquisitions and expansion from $87 million in 1990 to more than $135 million last year. At the same time, its storage capacity had grown from 4.4 million barrels to more than 20 million barrels.
The Statia terminals are being acquired by Castle Harlan Partners II, L.P., a private equity investment partnership with capital of $275 million. Castle Harlan, founded in 1987, is headed by John K. Castle, its chairman, and Leonard M. Harlan, president. Since its inception, it has completed acquisitions exceeding $2.5 billion.
Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with annual sales of more than $4 billion.