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Main Contents
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Masami Iijima) have entered into an agreement with JA Mitsui Leasing, Ltd. ("JAML", Head Office: Tokyo, President & CEO: Yoshinori Yasuda) and The Norinchukin Bank ("Norinchukin", Head Office: Tokyo, President & CEO: Yoshio Kono) on their participation in Mitsui Rail Capital, LLC ("MRC", a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui), which operates a railcar leasing business in North America. JAML and Norinchukin will acquire shares of MRC through their newly established special purpose company, JAML MRC Holding, Inc. ("JMRCH"). Following this transaction, Mitsui and JMRCH will hold 50% of MRC's equity shares, respectively.
Mitsui entered into the rolling stock leasing market by establishing MRC, and has expanded its business to Europe, Brazil, and Russia. MRC currently leases approximately 8,300 railcars (valued at approx. US$400 million) for railroad companies, electric utility companies, and mining companies. With the participation of JAML and Norinchukin, MRC's plan is to double its business size.
In North America, rail transportation serves as a fundamental infrastructure for middle or long-haul distance that bolsters the North American economy. Rail transportation volume is increasing steadily, in tandem with truck transportation, which has competitiveness within short or middle-haul distance, while both means of transportation complement each other. Furthermore, today, rail transportation plays an increasingly more significant role as the demand from shale gas and oil-related industries grows. Given such robust demand for rail transportation, the railcar leasing business in North America is expected to continue to grow.
Mitsui, with the participation of JAML, and Norinchukin, will continue to exert effort toward improving MRC's corporate value through business scale expansion and railcar portfolio improvement, and consequently contribute to the further development and enhanced efficiency of the logistics platform in the North America region.
Company Profile of MRC
| Name of Company | Mitsui Rail Capital, LLC (a Delaware limited liability company) |
|---|---|
| Head Office | Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. |
| Establishment | 1996 (founded as a Mitsui wholly owned subsidiary) |
| Business Activities | i. Railcar leasing operations in North America ii. Other related transportation services |
| Shareholders (after the new share subscription) | Mitsui Rail Capital Holdings, Inc. (Mitsui's wholly owned subsidiary) 50% JMRCH 50% |
MRC owned railcars
Notice:
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Mitsui's current assumptions, expectations and beliefs in light of the information currently possessed by it and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause Mitsui's actual results, financial position or cash flows to be materially different from any future results, financial position or cash flows expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors referred to above include, but are not limited to, those contained in Mitsui's latest Annual Securities Report and Quarterly Securities Report, and Mitsui undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
This announcement is published in order to publicly announce specific facts stated above, and does not constitute a solicitation of investments or any similar act inside or outside of Japan, regarding the shares, bonds or other securities issued by us.