Recently, North American well-known logistics enterprises, once ranked in the United States TOP25 Tiger Cool Express (hereinafter referred to as "TCE") due to capital chain fracture, suddenly stopped operations (abrupt closure )
According to related reports, TCE suddenly collapsed because it defaulted on a large number of bank loans and failed to repay them in time.
A source familiar with the now-shuttered refrigerated rail transport and logistics company said that TCE has more than 700 53-foot refrigerated containers for agricultural products, wine and frozen goods. A few years ago, the company refinanced its mortgage equipment to Wells Fargo Bank!
The source said that the company's performance in the 2022 spring-season before the performance has been good, but the market from the second half of last year began to weaken significantly, TCE is not immune, business volume and revenue fell sharply, and ultimately led to the company can not repay the Wells Fargo (Wells Fargo) loans.
Because TCE allegedly failed to repay on time and "violated its financial covenants with Wells Fargo", Wells Fargo asked it to return the mortgaged containers and related equipment.
Tiger Cool Express began operations in 2013, from New York and London offices of private equity firm Tiger Infrastructure Partners received $15 million dollars.
Sources said: Owning the multimodal provider of private equity group Tiger Infrastructure Partners this week withdrew funds, forcing the company last Tuesday to close.
Tiger Cool Express executives, including Chief Executive Officer Steve Van Kirk, Chief Commercial Officer Leslie Baird, and Chief Strategy Officer Theodore Prince, were silent on the closure.
A former TCE employee said that TCE employees in Tuesday's Zoom meeting was fired.
TCE expansion plans run aground
It is reported that Tiger Cool Express had two months ago (April 12) announced that it would be in Washington Vallula City to open Tiger Tri-Cities logistics center.
As a result, two months later, the company abruptly halted the project and closed the logistics company.
Due to continued cash constraints, the company will not be able to pay contractors for its intermodal terminal construction work.
In December 2022, Tiger Cool Express signed a lease purchase agreement to acquire Union Pacific Cold Connect warehouse and some property and to construct an adjacent intermodal ramp in Vallula, Washington.
Theodore Prince in January issued a press release said that TCE and Union Pacific Railroad reached an agreement to build the Tiger Tri-Cities logistics center.
Van Kirk, in a press release about the project, also said, "While our business continues to grow and our fleet continues to expand, we recognize that the Pacific Northwest offers our company transformational potential."
Port of Walla Walla Walla Executive Director Patrick Reay said the facilities have been closed since May 2020, when Union Pacific announced it would close its Cold Connect refrigeration units in Delanova Lula, Calif., New York, Rotterdam, and Cold Connect warehouses, citing "pandemic-induced market conditions downturn".
A former employee at Tiger Cool Express believes the company is on its feet after it announced a deal with UP. The former employee hopes that Tiger Cool's Express management team or Tiger Infrastructure Partners issue a statement as soon as possible explaining what led to the collapse of the logistics company.
Source: Ningbo Shipping