Titanium Transportation Group (TSX-V:TTR) has acquired International Truckload Services Group (ITS) in a deal that vaults the cross-border trucking and logistics company to among the largest in Canada.
The CA$60 million ($47 million) acquisition, announced Friday, roughly doubles the size of Ontario-based Titanium’s fleet to nearly 900 trucks. ITS, also based in Ontario, has an annual revenue of about CA$80 million, providing cross-border and domestic truckload, in addition to logistics services.
The deal compliments Titanium’s diverse, largely industrial cross-border trucking business. ITS primarily deals with consumer packaged goods and is more focused on domestic Canadian freight. It also strengthens Titanium’s terminal network in Ontario.
“We’ve been talking to them for a few years about this. It was the right time and the right fit,” Titanium CEO Ted Daniel told FreightWaves.
Daniel has made no secret of his desire to make a “transformational acquisition.” This deal places Titanium within striking distance of the 10 largest trucking companies in Canada, according to an annual ranking published by Today’s Trucking.
Titanium stock soars after acquisition news
Investors also welcomed the news, which included upward revenue guidance of CA$330 million for 2021. Titanium stock shot up by as much as 33% in Friday morning trading on the TSX Venture Exchange.
The company, which started as a freight brokerage, is one of three publicly traded trucking firms in Canada alongside TFI International (NYSE: TFII) and Mullen Group (TSX: MTL). While it remains the smallest — TFI is over 50 times larger by market cap on the heels of its UPS Freight Acquisition — its growth story is still young.
Titanium also plans to scale its U.S. brokerage business, with new offices set to open this year. The brokerage business, with offices in Nashville, Tennessee, and Charlotte, North Carolina, has been a key source of growth in recent quarters.
“We’re not slowing down on the U.S. brokerages at all,” said Chief Operating Officer Marilyn Daniel.
Left Lane Associates, an investment bank specializing in the supply chain, represented Titanium Transportation Group on the buy-side engagement.
Click for more FreightWaves articles by Nate Tabak
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