Dravo Acquires Nilo Barge Line From Olin

Acquisition of the operatingassets of Nilo Barge Line from the Olin Corp. by Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, was announced recently by Robert Dickey III, Dravo's chairman and president.

Included in the purchase are 180 dry cargo barges, four towboats, a trans-Gulf service, and related supporting assets.

According to Mr. Dickey, the cash transaction represents a total investment of more than $35 million. He added that a package involving lease financing f o r much of the investment is being arranged with a major leasing firm.

Nilo's operations, Mr. Dickey said, will be closely coordinated with those of another Dravo subsidiary, Dravo Mechling Corp., which operates a fleet of 18 towboats and 575 barges on the Mississippi- Ohio River system, and is one of the largest U.S. inland waterway carriers.

With headquarters in St. Louis, Nilo was established by Olin in 1963. The company specializes in the movement of bulk commodities which are exempt from Interstate Commerce Commission regulation.

More than one-third of the company's 1980 revenues of $38 mil- lion stemmed from the movement of grain.

Nilo operates on the Mississippi, Ohio and Illinois Rivers, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico.

Dravo's total revenue in 1980 amounted to $1.1 billion, of which about 7 percent resulted from barge operations. Its activities also include engineering, construction, manufacturing and natural resource development.

Late in May, Dravo acquired the Ryan-Walsh group of companies, one of the largest cargo handlers on the Gulf and South Atlantic, in an exchange of stock.

Ryan-Walsh's revenues last year amounted to about $65 million.

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