The owners of separate asset-light and asset-heavy companies are combining in the Southeast to form a significantly larger brokerage, truckload and LTL business.
The name of the new entity is BRW. It comes from the acquisition of B.R. Williams Trucking and B.R. Williams LTL Logistics by Haney and White Enterprise, which owns brokerages Haney and White Logistics and Running Ox Logistics.
B.R. Williams is based in Oxford, Alabama. Haney and White is based in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. According to a spokeswoman for BRW, the two companies had no formal ties or relationships prior to the acquisition.
The acquisition price was not disclosed.
In response to a question from FreightWaves, the spokeswoman said the transaction could be described as a “reverse integration,” in which a 3PL that previously had no physical assets buys a company of substantial size and now has those assets.
B.R. Williams will bring to BRW approximately 175 tractors, more than 700 trailers and five warehouses in the Southeast with total space of more than 1 million square feet.
B.R. Williams is family-owned and has been in existence since 1958. CEO and President Greg Brown is the son-in-law of Ruth Williams, who was a co-founder.
The two B.R. Williams companies being brought into the combination with the 3PL are B.R. Williams Trucking, a truckload carrier, and B.R. Williams LTL Logistics. The spokeswoman said the companies have roughly equal revenues.
The company will have more than 300 people across locations in Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama and Florida, it said in a prepared statement announcing the transaction. Its annual revenues will be “approaching” $100 million with a target of $250 million by 2030.
That target will be reached by “synergies and a growth strategy already in motion,” according to the spokeswoman.
Asked if that could mean more acquisitions are in the offing and if the combination into BRW is just step one, the spokeswoman said that “additional acquisitions are on the table.”
“However, the phrase (already in motion) related to the synergies created in our key customer target areas to replicate and multiply existing business up and down the I-65 corridor and additional areas in its reach,” she added in an email to FreightWaves. “The customer piece of this acquisition is the paramount focus.”
In the Southeast, I-65 runs through Alabama; Nashville, Tennessee; and Louisville, Kentucky; then up to Indianapolis and on to Chicago.
B.R. Willliams is also bringing to the combined company about 125-130 company drivers and two owner-operators. But that latter number is likely to change. “We see this as a huge growth opportunity and will be rolling out an owner-operator program in short order,” the spokeswoman said.
B.R. Williams does have a brokerage division, as do most truckload and LTL carriers, that will be integrated into the new company.
Although Haney and White is the acquiring company in the transaction, the spokeswoman said its current activities provide about 40% of the combined revenue, with B.R. Williams accounting for the remainder.
The strategic plan driving the acquisition, the companies said in their announcement, is to “facilitate direct growth in the Southeast corridor from Indiana to Florida, with a focus on automotive manufacturers and suppliers, e-commerce and government contract opportunities for BRW. With the essential resources for expansion and enduring viability, the acquisition further enables BRW to replicate established customer bases across the upper Midwest and Southern regions of the United States.”
However, the spokeswoman said the company does operate in all Lower 48 states.
Nate Haney, co-founder of Haney and White, said in the prepared statement that “the combination of these four companies provides a dynamic, disruptive, and driven enterprise built on integrity that is ideal for taking advantage of market growth opportunities and long-term sustainability.”
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