RRTS acquires Adrian Carriers and Wando Trucking

Non asset-based third-party logistics services provider Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. (RRTS) continues to stay true to its theory of growth by acquisition, saying yesterday it has brought two new companies into the fold: Adrian Carriers, a Milan, Illinois-based logistics service provider focusing on container management and intermodal, and Wando Trucking, a Charleston, South Carolina-based provider of intermodal services and related services in the Southeast.

The purchase price for Adrian was roughly $14.2 million, plus and an earn-out capped at $6.5 million, and the purchase price for Wando was roughly $9 million, with that acquisition financed with borrowings under Roadrunner’s credit facility, according to RRTS officials.

These acquisitions mark the ninth and tenth acquisitions RRTS has made going back to 2011 and they mark the first ones since its December 2012 public offering of 3,500,000 shares of common stock at a price of $17.25 per share to the public.

RRTS officials were not available for comment at press time. The company is announcing first quarter earnings later today.

Adrian Carriers: RRTS said that Adrian manages the transaction of containerized import and export freight throughout the U.S. and is at the forefront of technical development of container management systems and software. It added that in 2012 Adrian generated revenues of roughly $32.5 million and that Adrian is expected to be accretive to Roadrunner’s 2013 earnings.

“The acquisition of Adrian expands our TMS capabilities within intermodal services and container management,” said Mark DiBlasi, President and CEO of Roadrunner, in a statement. “In addition, Adrian’s service offering, combined with its superior reputation, enables us to cross-sell our current intermodal services. Gary Adrian and his team will remain in place and are excited about the growth opportunities we collectively envision.”

Stifel Nicolaus Analyst David Ross wrote in a research note that the acquisition of Adrian Carriers by RRTS could serve as a launching pad from which the company can get bigger in the international container management business.

“We continue to view Roadrunner as a company that plans to grow through any type of economic environment over the next few years, and its acquisitions recently have been small bolt-ons with relatively low-risk integrations, which we believe are better than larger deals,” wrote Ross.

Wando Trucking: RRTS said Wando mainly moves imports and exports, including raw rubber, building materials, paper, and plastics from the ports of Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia. During 2012, RRTS said Wando generated roughly $13.0 million in revenues, and it said Wando is expected to be accretive to Roadrunner’s earnings in 2013.

Robert W. Baird & Co. Analyst Ben Hartford wrote in a research note that Wando operates a fleet of roughly 110 power units and noted that Wando will compliment Roadrunner’s February 2011 acquisition of Morgan Southern, a privately-held provider of intermodal transportation and related services for roughly $20 million.