- Metalmark Capital made an undisclosed minority growth-capital investment in maritime logistics provider T. Parker Host in 2018.
- The funding aligned with Host’s acquisition of the 254-acre Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans to build a multimodal terminal with planned Class I rail connectivity.
- The Host family retained majority control under CEO Adam Anderson, with other family partners remaining involved.
- The deal aims to finance Host’s infrastructure-heavy expansion but leaves key valuation, governance, and exit details unclear.
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This deal represents a typical minority growth‐capital investment in a founder‐controlled enterprise. By providing capital without assuming control, Metalmark acquires exposure to Host’s asset‐intensive expansion (notably the Avondale Shipyard) while retaining the Host family’s operational leadership. This reduces integration risk but heightens dependence on Host’s management execution.
The timing of Metalmark’s investment suggests a synergy with Host’s acquisition of the Avondale Shipyard—an industrial/logistics asset with waterfront access, warehousing, and connectivity potential via six Class 1 railroads. This suggests Host is pursuing vertically integrated infrastructure, moving beyond stevedoring and agency services into full multimodal logistics that address broad supply‐chain shifts.
Strategic implications include improved scale, capital access, and legitimacy in infrastructure finance markets for Host. For Metalmark, this fills infrastructure & industrials portfolio objectives. However, several open questions could influence value realization: the undisclosed financials make return estimates speculative; governance rights are unclear, which will affect decision‐making in future capex or expansion; and the execution risk on such infrastructure is high given regulatory, environmental, tenant fill, and shipping cycle headwinds.
Potential exit strategies include secondary sale to a larger PE or infrastructure fund, or IPO, although the family retaining control may constrain exit timing. The real‐asset nature of Avondale suggests long gestation, so Metalmark must be patient. Verification of updates since 2018 (e.g. Host’s financials, asset utilization, rail connections completed) is essential for current valuation/analysis.
Supporting Notes
- Metalmark Capital made a minority growth-capital investment in T. Parker Host on November 29, 2018; financial terms were not disclosed.
- The investment coincided with Host’s acquisition of the Avondale Shipyard, a 254-acre site in New Orleans, with five docks, over a mile of waterfront, and significant warehousing capacity.
- Host plans to connect Avondale to six Class 1 railroads via the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad through an agreement with the Port of New Orleans.
- Adam Anderson remains majority shareholder; Andrew Caplan and Kelsey Host continue as partners post-deal.
- At the time, Host had grown from ~150 to over 500 employees over five years, had 30+ locations across U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, and was noted as the largest bulk agent in the U.S. and largest non-union stevedore in South Florida.
- Metalmark Capital manages funds with aggregate assets/commitments in the billions; its investment strategy focuses on infrastructure & industrials, agribusiness, healthcare, with emphasis on family/founder owned businesses.