Watch Now


Daseke now part of TFI International as acquisition closes

Flatbed operator goes into a company increasingly viewed by Wall Street as an LTL carrier

Flatbed operator Daseke's acqusition by TFI International has closed. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Flatbed operator Daseke ended its history as an independent trucking company Monday when its acquisition by Canada’s TFI International closed for $1.1 billion.

The acquisition by TFI (NYSE: TFII) was announced Dec. 22. The share price for the acquisition was $8.30, after closing at $4.91 on Dec. 21.

Daseke reported revenue of $1.57 billion in 2023. In 2016, revenue was $651.8 million.

The disappearance of Daseke from the list of publicly traded carriers follows that of such companies as U.S. Xpress and USA Truck, as well as nontrucking companies whose public earnings provided a window into the strength or weakness of the business. Those include Travel Centers of America and Echo Global Logistics, which stopped trading as public companies when they were acquired by others.


The count on Daseke’s operations as reported in its final 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission is that its Flatbed Solutions segment had 2,339 tractors and 2,849 trailers. The Specialized Solutions segment, which the company described as focused on “delivering transportation and logistics solutions that require the use of specialized trailering transportation equipment,” had 2,430 tractors and 6,820 trailers. Although Daseke was known primarily for its flatbed operations, the Flatbed Solutions segment provided only 41% of the company’s revenue, with Specialized Solutions supplying the balance.

Last year, company and owner-operator drivers drove 388.2 million miles, according to the 10-K.

For TFI, the acquisition of Daseke is its second in less than a month. It announced the acquisition of less-than-truckload carrier Hercules Forwarding March 11.

TFI’s acquisitions in recent years have skewed toward LTL, enough that most equity analysts who follow TFI now see it as an LTL rather than truckload carrier. And at the time the Daseke deal was announced, CEO Alain Bédard said a split between the truckload operations of TFI and the LTL and other lesser-mile operations was under consideration.


“This acquisition also advances our strategic consideration of creating a unique opportunity for shareholders to separately invest in a specialized truckload business and in an LTL [package and courier] and Logistics business,” Bédard said. “Our immediate focus will be on improving Daseke’s financial results, with the strategic consideration to follow and be ongoing.”

In late January, Deutsche Bank initiated coverage on TFI. “We view the LTL industry as one of the most attractive investment areas across all industrials, reflecting the consolidated nature of the market and resulting pricing power,” Deutsche Bank said in its rationale for initiating coverage. “We think a rising tide will lift all boats, and with TFII trading at a notable valuation discount to the group, we have confidence in double digit gains.”

In announcing the closing of the deal, TFI also said it had closed on a $500 million term loan that it described as “oversubscribed.” The three tranches in the loan are $100 million maturing in March 2025, $100 million maturing in March 2026 and $300 million maturing in March 2027. 

More articles by John Kingston

Wisconsin court affirms Amazon Flex drivers were not independent contractors

Texas trucking company employee gets over 5 years for payroll fraud

RXO gets negative outlook from Moody’s but keeps investment-grade rating


3 Comments

  1. Michael D Gillespie II

    Hmmm COTC goes from a truck load owner to a LTL owner? Does this mean COTC will become a LTL carrier rather than a truck load as we are known for? Interesting

Comments are closed.

John Kingston

John has an almost 40-year career covering commodities, most of the time at S&P Global Platts. He created the Dated Brent benchmark, now the world’s most important crude oil marker. He was Director of Oil, Director of News, the editor in chief of Platts Oilgram News and the “talking head” for Platts on numerous media outlets, including CNBC, Fox Business and Canada’s BNN. He covered metals before joining Platts and then spent a year running Platts’ metals business as well. He was awarded the International Association of Energy Economics Award for Excellence in Written Journalism in 2015. In 2010, he won two Corporate Achievement Awards from McGraw-Hill, an extremely rare accomplishment, one for steering coverage of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster and the other for the launch of a public affairs television show, Platts Energy Week.