Stonepeak refinances transport operator

Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners (Stonepeak) said its portfolio company Tidewater Holdings has entered into a $115 million refinancing package with a farm lender and crop insurer.

Tidewater, a multimodal transportation operator headquartered in Washington state, secured funding via lead arranger Northwest Farm Credit Service (Northwest FCS), Stonepeak said.

Northwest FCS has provided $10 billion in financing for agribusiness, commercial fishing, live-stocking and timber production in the US Pacific Northwest. The lender cited Tidewater for its “long-standing tradition of service” to the region in a press release announcing the refinancing agreement.

Founded in 1932, Tidewater became a Stonepeak asset in 2012. The fund manager is also owner of a seawater desalination project in San Diego and a power plant in Canada.

Stonepeak senior managing director Trent Vichie said the refinancing gave Tidewater the “flexibility necessary to execute our strategic plan”. 

The US fund manager is well on its way to closing a $1 billion infrastructure fund, having already raised at least $905 million for it.

Based in New York, Stonepeak formed in 2011 when Vichie and senior managing partner Michael Dorrell spun Blackstone Infrastructure Partners out from the Blackstone Group.

Vichie and Dorrell founded Blackstone Infrastructure Partners in 2008. The fund then went on to collect $400 million before Vichie and Dorrell spun out and rebranded Blackstone Infrastructure Partners as Stonepeak. In October 2012, the fund held its first close on $740 million.