The Arctic Gateway Group LP (consisting of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, AGT Food and Ingredients Inc) and Missinippi Rail Limited Partnership (a consortium of First Nations and communities) have announced that they have reached an agreement with Omnitrax Inc. to acquire the Hudson Bay Railway (HBR) and Port of Churchill facilities.

The deal closed on Friday, August 31, 2018.

The transaction includes multi-year Contribution Agreements to support the share purchase, repairs of the port and rail and operations with the Government of Canada.

Fairfax and AGT will operate HBR and the Port facilities under a 99-year operating agreement.

"Entering into this transaction completes discussions which started back in late 2017 with the Government of Canada, the First Nations and communities in the North and Fairfax to reconstruct and operate the Churchill line," said Murad Al-Katib, President and CEO of AGT. "Though the investment isn't material for AGT from a capital expenditure perspective, we feel the ability to add further port access is important for our long term plan as the recovery of markets for Canadian agricultural products continues in the coming years."

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.