Daseke to merge with fellow open-deck truck operators

The largest owner of open-deck transportation equipment in North America will acquire open-deck specialists The Schilli Cos., headquartered in Indiana, and Winnipeg, Canada-based Big Freight Systems as part of Daseke’s North American expansion plans.    Addison, Texas-based Daseke, Inc. will merge with fellow open-deck trucking operators The Schilli Cos. and Big Freight Systems Inc., the company said in a statement.
   Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
   Despite being the largest owner of open-deck transportation equipment in North America, Daseke accounts for less than 1 percent of a highly fragmented $133 billion market, according to the company.
   Acquiring Schilli, which is headquartered in Indiana, and Winnipeg, Canada-based Big Freight Systems is part of a targeted expansion plan in North America, Daseke said.
   Combined, the two companies reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, debt and amortization (EBITDA) of $13 million for the full year in 2016 on $119 million in revenues. Roughly 40 percent of the adjusted EBITDA was asset-light or logistics related, according to Daseke.
   “We’re proud to welcome Schilli and Big Freight, as well as each of their outstanding teams to the Daseke family,” Daseke President and CEO Don Daseke said of the deal. “Both companies are industry elites in the open-deck specialized market, and will bring new dimensions to Daseke’s depth of services and geographic footprint.
   “With the contribution of asset-light revenue, a first-class industrial warehousing operation, a new Midwestern presence, as well as an even stronger presence in the Canadian market, all of Daseke’s family of companies are able to benefit from our synergies and growing scale of operations,” he added.
   “Our ongoing strategy is to look for companies that are not for sale, companies like Schilli and Big Freight,” said Daseke. “A key objective of our recent decision to go public was to accelerate the company’s consolidation in the open deck specialized freight sector. Schilli and Big Freight are a natural fit with our operating companies, and these new mergers are a crucial and important step in our journey.”