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Echo buys Command Transportation in $420m deal

Acquisition positions Echo Global Logistics as fourth largest freight brokerage in North America and represents next evolution in growth of company, CEO Doug Waggoner said.

   The freight broker and third party logistics services provider Echo Global Logistics has purchased truckload-oriented freight broker Command Transportationa for $420 million, the company said Tuesday.
   The combined entity would create the fourth largest freight brokerage in North America, behind only market leader C.H. Robinson, Total Quality Logistics and Coyote Logistics. Alone, Command is currently the eighth largest brokerage.
   Privately-held Command, which had revenues of $561 million in 2014, was founded by Paul Loeb, one of the founding members of American Backhaulers, which was acquired by C.H. Robinson in 1999.
   “With Paul Loeb nearing retirement age and with his company now focusing on profitability rather than growth, we believe the time was right for Echo to make the acquisition,” the Transportation and Logistics Research Group of the investment bank Stifel said of the deal. “After many years of solid organic growth and a series of small bolt-on acquisitions…we believe that Echo has been eyeing Command as an attractive acquisition candidate for several years now.”
   Echo said the acquisition would bring scale to its business.
   “This transaction will create a leading provider of technology-enabled transportation management solutions with enhanced scale in the TL market,” Echo said in a statement. “In 2014, Echo and Command had combined revenue of ($1.7 billion). The combined company will be able to offer greater capacity and a broader network to both transactional and Managed Transportation clients, as well as a broader suite of services for both companies’ existing clients.”
   The combined company will have more than 1,680 sales representatives in 34 offices across the United States and a nationwide network of truckload carriers.
   “Through this highly complementary combination, we are taking the next step in our evolution to create a stronger company that we believe is even better positioned for long-term success,” said Echo Chief Executive Officer Doug Waggoner. “We believe the combined company’s expanded platform will create immediate and substantial value for stockholders, as well as for clients, carriers and employees.
   “We will significantly enhance our national scale and density in the highly fragmented TL market,” added Waggoner. “We will also leverage the unique technology of both companies to continue offering best-in-class services and comprehensive solutions that make our companies the provider of choice for our respective clients.”
   Command will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Echo, and the combined company will be called Echo and headquartered in Chicago, where both companies are currently headquartered.
   Stifel said the price Echo paid for Command “was probably too high a price for XPO Logistics to pay and too high a price for Coyote to pay, given that Command’s growth in recent years has slowed somewhat. With C. H. Robinson still digesting the Freightquote.com merger, C. H. Robinson was probably not a serious contender for Command.”
   Stifel also noted that Total Quality Logistics likes to grow organically and lately has been opening new offices around the country at a rapid pace.
   “XPO management must be the most disappointed as they have now lost out on a number of deals as the ultimate buyers of Neovia Logistics (bought by Goldman Sachs), APL Logistics (Kintetsu Logistics), Jacobson (Norbert Dentressangle), and Freightquote.com (C. H. Robinson) have reportedly all paid rich multiples for these attractive acquisitions,” Stifel said.
   Echo completed a smaller acquisition of Xpress Solutions in February, a move aimed at targeting more small and medium-sized shippers.
   American Shipper profiled Echo in July 2014.