TransForce eyes Canada’s top trucking fleets; Intermodal firm in sight
TORONTO — About 100 of Canada’s 10,000 or so trucking companies are wearing purchase targets on their back, says the CEO of the largest for-hire carrier in the nation.
According to Canadian Press, TransForce Income Fund CEO Alain Bedard told unitholders that the trucking company isn’t done buying profitable, well-run carriers. He said that out of the thousands of trucking firms in Canada, he could single out about 100 that fit his acquisition criteria. “And from these, we’ll pick the best,” he said at the company’s annual meeting in Toronto.
The company topped the industry with $1.5 billion in annual revenue last year, but Bedard has his eye on a bit more share of the other $55 billion the entire trucking industry rakes in.
Specifically on his list, he says, are carriers with a niche presence in intermodal transport — one of the few sectors TransForce doesn’t have a large stake in. Bedard went so far as saying he has his sights on one fleet in particular, and suggested a deal could be worked out by the end of the year.
According to CP, TransForce announced it would again increase its monthly distributions to unitholders slightly, to 12.75 cents per unit from 12.5 cents per unit. The higher distributions are being fuelled by double-digit growth in revenue, cash flow and net income — much of it from acquisitions and expansion into new geographic areas.
Over the last few years alone, TransForce has acquired many large fleets such as Highland Transport, Canadian Freightways, Canpar, and Porter Trucking. More recently it has bought a whole block of medium and small Quebec-based carriers such as Groupe Gregoire, Groupe Fortier and Golden Eagle Express. In 2005 it also ventured into the lucrative Alberta energy sector by buying a handful of carriers oil services carriers like Kos Corp. Oilfield Transportation Ltd. and Rebel Transport.
Bedard reiterated his stance that the fund will continue to seek opportunities but will remain disciplined. Nor does the company chase deals. Only a handful of the 20-something companies TransForce has acquired since becoming an income trust in 2002, approached Bédard. Usually, he calls first.
— with files from CP
Have your say
This is a moderated forum. Comments will no longer be published unless they are accompanied by a first and last name and a verifiable email address. (Today's Trucking will not publish or share the email address.) Profane language and content deemed to be libelous, racist, or threatening in nature will not be published under any circumstances.