Privately-owned iron ore rail builder Pilbara Rail Maintenance set to snare $180m deal with Italy’s Salcef

A husband-and-wife founded business specialising in laying and fixing the sprawling Pilbara haulage railways used to shift huge volumes of iron ore has sold to an Italian group for $180 million.

Chris Prior and Chelsea Herman-run Pilbara Rail Maintenance (PRM) employs 300 people out of its base in Karratha, and will be absorbed by rail industry major Salcef pending the-all clear from the Foreign Investment Review Board in the coming weeks.

A former track labourer himself, Mr Prior said it was the potential he saw for newer and more mechanised approaches to maintenance and construction that led to the start up of PRM with the backing of investor Ian Abbott in 2018.

With new mines popping up across the State since then, business growth has been propelled by contracts with the likes of BHP and Rio Tinto, who continue to expand rail networks throughout WA’s iron ore heartland that carry the crucial commodity from mine to port.

Despite netting up to $180m for the sale over five years to Italy’s Salcef, the founders have no plans to exit and believe there is still huge growth potential for their business within the WA industry.

“We still consider ourselves a small, family-owned business,” Mr Prior told The West Australian. He and his wife Chelsea are now based in Coffs Harbour NSW after spending the past 15 years in WA.

“We’ve still got lots of people working for us that were there when we opened up the doors, so (it’s) very important to us that we’ll be working with someone that wants to keep the business how it is.”

Hamilton Locke, Infrastructure Asset Group and JLC Associates were advisers to the deal, which are not uncommon in a State that has fostered many private, locally-run enterprises.

Contract Resources earlier this year sold for $377m to listed business Cleanaway Waste Management, and former test cricketer Wally Edwards made $160m from the sale of his Holman watering and plumbing products business in 2024.

The backing of Salcef — which turned over €1 billion in 2024 — and access to its factories in Italy that manufacture parts for railway tracks and tunnels are hoped to usher in new growth for PRM.

“PRM stand out as a first-class operator with an unrivalled safety record. They are ‘first movers’ in rail safety and innovation,” Salcef chief Valeriano Salciccia said.

“Their industry leadership has not only seen several industry-leading equipment innovations come to market, but genuine enhancements to the way the iron ore industry manages heavy haul rail infrastructure in Australia.”

Work in the WA rail space is largely occupied by bigger contractors including the likes of John Holland, Laing O’Rourke and Downer.