Apollo Buys Stacktrain Business

Apollo Management, a New York investment firm that recently purchased a stake in Pacer International, an intermodal service provider based in Lafayette, Calif., has agreed to pay more than $300 million for the North American stacktrain business of Neptune Orient Lines.

Apollo said it would continue to operate the business under its current name, Land Transport Services, with the existing management under the direction of Pacer Chairman Donald C. Orris.

Orris was an executive of American President Lines in 1984 when the stacktrain business was started. NOL, based in Singapore, acquired APL in 1997.

Apollo will pay $292.5 million at closing and up to $15 million more if LTS achieves earnings targets for fiscal year 1999.

LTS provides double-stack rail services in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and brokers freight to other carriers.

The deal gives Apollo a stronger presence in the North American intermodal and logistics market, company officials said.

Apollo entered the transportation industry in 1998 with its purchase of MTL Inc. of Plant City, Fla., and Chemical Leaman Corp. of Exton, Pa. The two companies operated two of the nation’s largest chemical hauling fleets, which were recently merged to form a new entity called Quality Carriers.