WSJ: NOVA Infrastructure Acquires ATS Logistics to Expand Port Operations
THE COMPANY PROVIDES TRANSPORTATION AND WAREHOUSING SERVICES IN ONE OF THE BUSIEST U.S. PORTS
New York, NY – January 5, 2023 – NOVA Infrastructure has acquired ATS Logistics Inc., a transportation and warehouse operator at the Port of Charleston, S.C., as the infrastructure investment firm looks to capitalize on shipping growth there.
The company’s roughly 170 trucks move cargo for ocean carriers, shippers and other customers that use the port, while it also operates 135,000 square feet of warehouse space in the area, NOVA said. The deep-water port is one of the busiest in the U.S., helping ATS generate roughly $35 million in revenue last year.
NOVA invested in ATS through Harbor Logistics LLC, a Charleston-based holding company formed by the firm last year through its first infrastructure fund. The firm closed the fund, NOVA Infrastructure Fund I LP, with $565 million about midway through last year and said it would be about 70% deployed during the current quarter.
The New York-based firm combined ATS with Harbor, which also owns Charleston’s Premier Logistics Solutions Warehousing LLC. NOVA said it bought Premier in late 2021, and that Harbor now has about 800,000 square feet in total warehouse space within 15 miles of the port along with 185 trucks.
Both acquisitions are part of NOVA’s strategy to increase Harbor’s presence in one of the fastest-growing ports in the U.S., said Allison Kingsley, a NOVA partner and co-founder. She added that the firm remains on the lookout for investment opportunities in other southern U.S. ports.
“The Port of Charleston has demonstrated strong growth, leadership and significant capital investment over more than a decade, and in an area of the country that’s really attractive from a macro perspective,” Ms. Kingsley said.
Total volume handled in the port last year through June reached 1.57 million containers, based on 20-foot-equivalent units, according to commercial real estate services provider Cushman & Wakefield PLC. Volume climbed 17.4% from a year earlier and represented the second-largest expansion among the major U.S. ports, trailing only Houston’s 18% increase, over the same period.
Charleston benefits from both industrial and population growth in the region, as well as a diversity of sectors with significant shipments—from manufacturing to consumer goods and commodities. That makes the port more resilient to downturns than others that rely heavily on one industry, said Micah Mallace, Harbor Logistics’ president. He was previously chief commercial officer at the South Carolina Ports Authority.
“That diversity has only increased over the last three years,” he said
He added that a 12% drop in U.S. shipping container imports in November from October didn’t have a noticeable effect on demand for Harbor’s services, thanks partly to investments by large companies such as retailers Amazon.com Inc., Target Corp. and Walmart Inc. and car maker BMW AG in facilities in the area.
“We’re seeing new facilities come up and open and that volume is bolstering what would otherwise be a sagging market,” Mr. Mallace said.
By owning both the trucks that transport port loads and the warehouses that store them, he said, Harbor also looks to appeal to customers wary of pandemic- and war-driven disruptions in supply chains.
“What everyone learned over the pandemic was [that] control of assets and the ability to move a product throughout the entire supply chain—from port to warehouse, warehouse into a domestic truck, domestic truck to end destination, or reverse for an export—is incredibly desirable,” Mr. Mallace said.