The Greenbrier Companies
In 1970, the Commercial Metals Company and M.D. Friedman companies jointly formed a flatcar leasing company called Greenbrier Leasing Corporation. In 1981, Commercial Metals sold the company to Alan James and William A. Furman, the owners of James-Furman & Company and founders of The Greenbrier Companies.[13] In 1985, Greenbrier entered the Oregon manufacturing market through the acquisition of MRED and renamed it Gunderson, Inc.[14]
By the early 1990s, the company's sales and profits increased dramatically due to an increase in North American rail freight development and transportation needs. The company went public in 1994 and, in 1995, acquired TrentonWorks, another rail freight rolling stock manufacturing facility in Nova Scotia, Canada.[15] The TrentonWorks facility closed in 2007 as a result of unfavorable exchange rates and lower operating costs in Mexico.[16][17]
In 1991, Greenbrier established its rail services division, adding to its maintenance and refurbishment capabilities.[18]
In 1998, the company acquired Polish railcar manufacturer Wagony Świdnica. The same year, Greenbrier formed a joint venture with Bombardier Inc. in a former Concarril facility located in Sahagún, Mexico.[19] In 2004, Bombardier's stake in the venture was acquired; the operation now goes by Greenbrier Sahagún.[20]
Between 2006 and 2008, the company bought several rolling stock equipment companies. In 2006, Greenbrier formed the joint venture GIMSA in Mexico with Grupo Industrial Monclova.[21]
In December 2012, Carl Icahn made an offer to purchase Greenbrier for $20 a share, which represented a 5.4% premium to Greenbrier's stock price at that time. His offer was rejected.[22]
In response to growing safety concerns surrounding increasing levels of hazardous tank car shipments, in 2014 Greenbrier introduced the “Tank Car of the Future,” a new generation of tank cars featuring safety enhancements that were adopted by PHMSA as part of a new industry standard, the DOT-117 tank car.[23] The company led the award-winning Safer Tank Cars Now campaign, which is still archived in the Library of Congress.[24]
In 2014, Greenbrier announced a railcar maintenance joint venture company with Watco called GBW Railcar Services.[25] In, 2018, Greenbrier and Watco announced the discontinuation of the joint venture to allow both companies to better capitalize on railcar maintenance demands in the North American market. Under the agreement, the railcar maintenance shops and employees at each location were returned to management by their previous operators.[25]
In 2015, Greenbrier opened Greenbrier Tlaxcala, a wholly owned railcar manufacturing facility in Tlaxcala, Mexico. The company also acquired a 19.5% stake in Amsted-Maxion Hortolândia, a Brazilian railcar manufacturer, for US$15 million; Greenbrier took a majority interest of Greenbrier Maxion in 2017.[26] Additionally in 2015, the Saudi Railway Company (SAR) awarded Greenbrier a contract with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) to manufacture nearly 1,200 tank wagons.
In 2016, The Greenbrier Companies and AstraRail Management (AstraRail Industries, Romania) announced the merging of their European activities into a joint venture, Greenbrier AstraRail. As part of the agreement, Greenbrier agreed to pay AstraRail $60 million. The joint venture eventually became 75% owned by Greenbrier.[27]
In 2018, Greenbrier completed an agreement between Turkish railcar manufacturer and maintenance and parts services provider Rayvag Vagon Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S and Greenbrier's European subsidiary, Greenbrier AstraRail, to take a 68% ownership stake in Rayvag.
In 2019, Greenbrier launched its first environmental, social and governance (ESG) report.[28] Since then, it has adopted the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) reporting framework.
Also in 2019, Greenbrier acquired American Railcar Industries (ARI), a transaction valued at $400 million.[29] The acquisition added two railcar manufacturing and two railcar component and part producers to Greenbrier's operations, increasing the company's U.S.-based workforce and insulating it from uncertainties related to North American free trade.
In 2021, Greenbrier formed GBX Leasing, a joint venture with The Longwood Group, a Chicago-based transportation equipment advisory and asset management firm, to develop an owned portfolio of leased railcars to be built primarily by Greenbrier.
In 2021, Greenbrier was recognized as an "Oregon History Maker" by the Oregon Historical Society.
In 2022, Greenbrier's founder and CEO Bill Furman stepped down as CEO and retired the office of Executive Chairman. The Board of Directors appointed then-President & Chief Operating Officer Lorie Tekorius to CEO & President. Furman remained a director through the expiration of his term in January 2024.[30]
In 2023, Greenbrier sold the Gunderson Marine facility to Oregon Green Manufacturing, marking its exit from marine manufacturing. GBX Leasing also became wholly owned by Greenbrier after the company acquired Longwood Group's minority interest.
Later that year, Greenbrier sold its ownership stake in Rayvag to its joint venture partner and founded Greenbrier Vagon in Turkey.
