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.