Tiger Cool Express LLC, a temperature-controlled intermodal container transporter of produce and food products, announced that Wood Creek Capital Management, LLC has purchased an ownership interest in Tiger Cool Express to support the rapid expansion of its refrigerated container fleet.
Tiger Cool Express, the second largest U.S. operator of 53-foot domestic refrigerated containers, announced in February the acquisition of 200 containers from Quingdao CIMC Special Reefer Co., Ltd. bringing its fleet to 435 containers. With the addition of Wood Creek to its ownership group, Tiger Cool Express expects to acquire an additional 300 refrigerated containers for a targeted 2015 fleet size of 735.
Tom Finkbiner, CEO of Tiger Cool Express, said: “We are excited to bring the expertise and resources of Wood Creek to our shareholder base which includes New York-based private equity firm, Tiger Infrastructure Partners. With our growth capital and expanded fleet, we are targeting year-end run rate revenues of approximately $100 million.”
Jon Rotolo, president and co-founder of Wood Creek Capital, said: “We originally met the Tiger Cool Express management team when we financed their start-up 200 containers through our ownership in Quest Capital Group. We have been impressed with what we’ve seen and wanted to be more of a partner than supplier. We’re excited to provide capital and additional equipment to support their growth.”
Emil Henry, CEO of Tiger Infrastructure Partners and chairman of the board of Tiger Cool Express, added: “The addition of Wood Creek gives Tiger Cool Express superior financial strength to grow aggressively as we build the largest intermodal distributor of perishables in the United States.”