2019 A Big Year for Watco?

[CN9634]

2019 looks like a big year of potential M&A for Watco... all the recent rebranding and other behind scenes work seems to be queuing up the GWI nemesis as they now have access to $450M in capital. With that, the ex-CEO Dave Starling of KCS is now on their board,. Also to note, Oaktree Capital has teamed up with GWI in the past on M&A opportunities (doesn't appear any stuck but I'll keep researching). See more here:

http://watcocompanies.com/pdfs/media/Wa ... elease.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Watco and Oaktree Announce a Strategic Partnership
and a $450 million Investment and Capital Commitment
PITTSBURG, KS – January 4, 2019 – Watco Companies, LLC (“Watco”) and funds managed by
Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (“Oaktree”) are pleased to announce the formation of a
strategic partnership and a definitive agreement whereby Oaktree has committed $450 million
of non-controlling equity capital to Watco."

[johnpbarlow]

This excerpt re: NS as a key strategic partner for Watco is provocative:

“Our Customers are constantly providing new growth opportunities requiring us to explore new
ways to serve their ever-changing needs, and Watco has been blessed to have tremendous
strategic partners in Kinder Morgan, Norfolk Southern, and SkyKnight Capital, who have made
us better,” added Rick Baden, President & CFO.

Anyone know the nature of the NS-Watco partnership? Will there likely be more Ithaca Central RRs where Watco leases NS track and assumes operations?