Arcosa To Sell Barge Business For $450 Million
Dallas-based Arcosa Inc., a provider of infrastructure-related products and services, has announced an agreement to sell subsidiary Arcosa Marine Products Inc. (Arcosa Marine) to Wynnchurch Capital L.P., a Rosemont, Ill.-based private equity firm, for $450 million in cash. The sale, subject to typical transaction adjustments, regulatory approval and closing conditions, is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.
The sale is the latest chapter for Arcosa Marine, which was formed in 2018 as a spinoff of Trinity Industries yet has roots, through its connection to Nashville Bridge Company (or NABRICO), dating back to 1902. Trinity bought NABRICO in 1995, at which time the company closed its original yard in Nashville to focus on building barges at its Ashland City, Tenn., shipyard. The company also had a yard in Madisonville, La. NABRICO originally focused on building bridges but pivoted to marine construction in 1915. With the barge-building business and the NABRICO and Wintech business lines, Arcosa Marine is a leader in producing inland barges, fiberglass barge covers, winches and marine hardware used throughout the inland waterways. In 2025, Arcosa reported revenues and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) within its transportation products segment as $383 million and $68 million, respectively.
Speaking of the agreement with Wynnchurch Capital, Arcosa President and CEO Antonio Carrillo emphasized the long-term outlook for barge demand.
“With a strong backlog that provides production visibility deep into 2026 and market fundamentals supporting a healthy replacement cycle, we believe this is the right time to transition the barge business to an owner aligned with its long-term growth plans,” Carrillo said. “I am confident in its continued success under the focused ownership of Wynnchurch.”
Carillo said the move focuses Arcosa on its “key growth businesses,” which include construction materials and engineered structures, “both of which are well-aligned with long-term infrastructure and power market tailwinds in the U.S.”
“The barge divestiture further reduces complexity and cyclicality, raises our overall margin profile and enhances the long-term resiliency of the company,” Carrillo said.
In its own press release, Wynnchurch Capital described the acquisition as a “corporate carve-out of Arcosa Inc.’s marine products business,” with Arcosa Marine continuing as “an independent, standalone platform under Wynnchurch ownership.” Mike MacKay, principal at Wynnchurch, like Carrillo, highlighted Arcosa Marine’s positive outlook.
“Arcosa Marine operates in a critical segment of the U.S. transportation infrastructure with favorable long-term demand drivers,” MacKay said. “We see meaningful opportunities to invest in the company’s operations and pursue both organic and strategic growth initiatives. We look forward to working closely with management to accelerate these value creation opportunities.”
Ken Eriksen, managing member of Polaris Analytics and Consulting and chief researcher for The Waterways Journal’s IRR Barge Fleet Profile, said the advanced age of the barge fleet in the United States, combined with an impending replacement cycle, likely contributed to the sale of Arcosa Marine coming to fruition now.
“It was a good time to sell, with a decent backlog and promising future, based on the ‘retirement cliff’ I’ve talked about using the Barge Fleet Profile data,” Eriksen said.
Of the U.S. fleet of 12,000 covered hopper barges, about 2,700 are 25 years old and up, while another 2,000 are 20 to 25 years old, Eriksen said. More than half of the open fleet of 5,000 barges is 20 years old and up. More than 27 percent of the tank fleet, Eriksen said, is 20 years old or older.
Eriksen said there was a time when Arcosa Marine by itself could’ve tackled much of the need for new barges.
“In its heyday, Arcosa, as Trinity, could crank out 1,000 to 1,500 barges per year,” Eriksen said, “but that is scaled back with fewer yards.”
