COTEAU-DU-LAC, Que. – C.A.T. has tripled its fleet size with the acquisition of Kingston, Ont.-based SLH Transport, the company announced Sept. 29.

“We have been looking for an opportunity like this since the acquisition of Group Express Groupex Inc. in Alexandria this past January,” said Daniel Goyotte, president of C.A.T. Holding. “The purchase of the assets of SLH fits our model well and gives us an enormous boost in capacity and coverage for North American markets.”

The company plans to continue operating SLH under its existing brand and organizational structure. Current SLH president Paul Cooper will remain at the helm, reporting to Goyette, the company announced.

It says the consolidation of equipment and human resources provides employees with greater job security, while tripling C.A.T.’s capacity. SLH was previously owned by Sears Canada, which filed for creditor protection in June.

“SLH employees can now breathe a sigh of relief that the very stable C.A.T. Holding has taken ownership of the assets and will continue to serve customers with the seasoned team employed by SLH. C.A.T. and SLH have many customers in common which will make for a smooth transition to the larger and more capable entity,” the company said in a statement.

“We would like to thank all of the dedicated employees at SLH for their continued hard work through these recent times of turbulence. We wish you all great success in our future together with what we think will be an extremely strong union of two highly service orientated and focused companies,” Goyette and Cooper said in a joint statement.