Control Exemption for Cando Holdings, AIMCo, Savage Railroads

Regs.gov: Surface Transportation Board

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 28th, 2026

Summary

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) issued a notice of exemption for Cando Holdings and AIMCo to acquire control of two Class III rail carriers, Savage Bingham & Garfield Railroad LLC and Savage Tooele Railroad LLC. The transaction is exempt from prior approval requirements as it involves only Class III carriers and does not create new track connections.

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What changed

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) has issued a notice of exemption allowing Cando Holdings (U.S.) Inc. and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) to acquire control of Savage Bingham & Garfield Railroad LLC (SBG) and Savage Tooele Railroad LLC (STR) from Savage Infrastructure LLC. This transaction is considered exempt from the standard prior approval requirements under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) because it involves only Class III rail carriers, does not involve a connection to other rail lines operated by Cando RT, and is not part of a larger series of transactions that would create such a connection. The exemption becomes effective on April 10, 2026.

Regulated entities should note that while the exemption is granted, petitions to revoke it can be filed at any time, with petitions for stay due by April 3, 2026. The STB has determined that labor protective conditions are not applicable to this transaction as it involves only Class III carriers. All filings related to this matter should reference Docket No. FD 36914 and be submitted to the STB.

What to do next

Monitor filings related to Docket No. FD 36914
File petitions for stay by April 3, 2026, if necessary
File petitions to revoke the exemption at any time if false or misleading information is suspected

Penalties

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void ab initio.

Source document (simplified)

Content

Cando Holdings (U.S.) Inc. (Cando) and Alberta Investment Management

Corporation and various of its intermediate holding companies (collectively, AIMCo), (1) each noncarriers, filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2) to obtain control of Savage Bingham & Garfield
Railroad LLC (SBG) (2) and Savage Tooele Railroad LLC (STR), (3) both Class III carriers, from their current owner Savage Infrastructure LLC (Savage), a noncarrier.

The verified notice states that, pursuant to an Equity and Asset

  Purchase Agreement (EAPA), [(4)]() Cando will acquire from Savage all of the issued and outstanding equity interests in SBG and STR, and certain other entities
  owned directly or indirectly by Savage. Currently, Cando and AIMCo control one rail carrier, Cando Rail & Terminals Inc. (Cando
  RT), which holds authority to operate as a rail carrier in Arkansas. [(5)]() Pursuant to the EAPA, Cando would assume direct control, and AIMCo would assume indirect control, of SBG and STR.

Cando states that: (1) the rail lines of SBG and STR do not connect with each other or with the trackage over which Cando
RT has operating rights; (2) the proposed transaction is not part of a series of anticipated transactions that would result
in such a connection; and (3) the transaction does not involve a Class I rail carrier. Therefore, the proposed transaction
is exempt from the prior approval requirements of 49 U.S.C. 11323. See 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2).

The earliest this transaction may be consummated is April 10, 2026, the effective date of the exemption (30 days after the
verified notice was filed).

Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(g), the Board may not use its exemption authority to relieve a rail carrier of its statutory obligation
to protect the interests of its employees. However, 49 U.S.C. 11326(c) does not provide for labor protection for transactions
under 49 U.S.C. 11324 and 11325 that involve only Class III rail carriers. Because this transaction involves Class III rail
carriers only, the Board, under the statute, may not impose labor protective conditions for this transaction.

If the verified notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void ab initio. Petitions to revoke the
exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any time. The filing of a petition to revoke will not automatically stay
the effectiveness of the exemption. Petitions for stay must be filed by April 3, 2026 (at least seven days before the exemption
becomes effective).

All pleadings, referring to Docket No. FD 36914, should be filed with the Surface Transportation Board via e-filing on the
Board's website or in writing addressed to 395 E Street SW, Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading
must be served on Cando and AIMCo's representative, Thomas J. Litwiler, Fletcher & Sippel LLC, 29 North Wacker Drive, Suite
800, Chicago, IL 60606-3208.

According to Cando and AIMCo this action is categorically excluded from environmental review under 49 CFR 1105.6(c) and from
historic preservation reporting requirements under 49 CFR 1105.8(b).

Board decisions and notices are available at www.stb.gov.

Decided: March 24, 2026. By the Board, Anika S. Cooper, Chief Counsel, Office of Chief Counsel.

Brendetta Jones, Clearance Clerk. [FR Doc. 2026-05933 Filed 3-26-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4915-01-P

Footnotes

(1) According to the verified notice, Cando is an indirect subsidiary of Alberta Investment Management Corporation. There are
a total of 12 intermediate holding companies between Alberta Investment Management Corporation and Cando: PIP7PX Holdings
Ltd.; AIMCo Global Infrastructure Partnership; PIP7 Rowboat Trust 2; PIP7 Rowboat Trust 1; PIP7 Rowboat Ltd.; Paddle LP; Cando
Holdings Ltd.; Cando Midco C Ltd.; Cando Midco B Ltd.; Cando Midco A Ltd.; Cando Rail &Terminals Ltd. (Cando RTL); and Cando
Rail & Terminals (U.S.) ULC.

(2) SBG operates approximately 21 miles of trackage in the vicinity of Salt Lake City, Utah.

(3) STR received authority to construct and operate an approximately 11-mile rail line in Tooele County, Utah. See Savage Tooele
R.R.—Constr. & Operation Exemption—Line of R.R. in Tooele Cnty., Utah, FD 36616 (STB served Apr. 1 2024).

(4) A highly confidential, unredacted version of the EAPA was submitted under seal concurrently with a motion for protective
order. In its motion Cando and AIMCo request a waiver of the requirement to submit a redacted, public version of the EAPA
with the verified notice. The motion for protective order and request for waiver will be addressed in a separate decision.

(5) See Cando Rail Servs.—Operation Exemption—Georgia-Pacific Consumer Operations, LLC, FD 36313 (STB served Aug. 2, 2019).