Ingram Industries buys 2,300 barge fleet for $230 million

Ingram Industries has agreed to pay $230 million and assume $135 million of debt to acquire Midland Enterprises Inc., an owner of 2,300 barges and 80 towboats.

Nashville-based Ingram agreed to buy Midland from its parent, KeySpan Corp. (KSE) of New York City. In 2001, Cincinnati-based Midland generated a net profit of $9 million, which followed a loss of $1.9 million in 2000. According to a KeySpan release, the SEC ordered KeySpan to divest its barge business following the company’s November 2000 acquisition of Eastern Enterprises, a natural gas company serving New England. The SEC ordered the sale of "its interest in the Midland barge business because it was not functionally related to [KeySpan's] core utility operations," the release said.