Radiant Logistics acquires two forwarders

Radiant’s strategy is to consolidate small forwarding companies to provide greater leverage with vendors and better technology across its growing list of locations.    Radiant Logistics said last week it has acquired New York-based Service By Air and Kentucky-based Highways and Skyways, Inc., two privately-held companies that provide domestic and international transportation and logistics services across North America.
   Radiant said it paid $12 million for Service By Air, which operates company-owned locations near international airports in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and 40 other North American locations through agency agreements. Radiant had revenues of $130 million for the 12 months up to Aug. 31, 2014.
   “This transaction is a continuation of our long-time focus to bring value to the agent-based forwarding community and the ideal next step to accelerate Radiant’s growth, further strengthen our network footprint and leverage our combined company-owned operations in the New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) markets,” said Radiant Founder and Chief Executive Officer Bohn Crain. “Through the purchase of Service By Air, Radiant will enjoy more than 150 operating locations across North America.”
   Based in Cincinnati, Highways and Skyways operated as an independent agency for Service By Air, with customers in the manufacturing, apparel, paper products, medical devices, consumer products and technology industries.
   Radiant’s strategy is consolidate the agent-based forwarding community by leveraging its status as a public company, having better purchasing power with vendors, and more sophisticated technology solutions for our customers.
   The goal, Crain said, is to offer a unique opportunity in terms of succession planning and liquidity for its acquired station owners.
   Crain said the company is “still very early in the process and believe we will have the opportunity to welcome a number of additional like-minded entrepreneurs who can benefit from the Radiant platform.”
   Terms of the Highways and Skyways acquisition were not disclosed.
   With the acquisitions, the company now expects to have $30 million to $35 million in operating profits and $900 million to $960 million in revenue by the end of its fiscal year ending June 30, 2016.
   “We think RLGT is an under-the-radar name, following the XPO Logistics (playbook (acquisitions, organic growth, and leveraging an IT platform), with an agent-based model similar to Landstar System,” the logistics analysis arm of investment bank BB&T said in a note last week.