Stillwater Capital has announced it has been involved in five transportation and logistics acquisitions over the past six months and expects frenzied M&A activity to continue.

The deals include: TFI International buying FreightLine Carrier Systems; FreightWise obtaining funding from Riverside Group; ONE for Freight being purchased by Reimer World Corp.; Freightcom buying Shipgooder; and Supply Chain Alliance’s sale to Metro Supply Chain Group.

Doug Nix, Stillwater chairman, said he expects the hot start to 2021 deal making to continue.

“We expect this level of activity to continue over 2021. Why? Because in many areas, historic supply chains and channels to market have radically changed,” he said. 

“These changes in supply chains and delivery models will continue to drive the logistics needs of a multi-modal world and steer capital deployment accordingly. We expect strong demand for businesses serving the e-commerce, fulfilment, and distribution part of the supply chain to continue. By the end of 2021, almost all owners of quality mid-sized transportation and logistics businesses will have been approached with unsolicited offers from ‘well qualified’ buyers.”

However, he advises business owners against accepting such offers without soliciting a second opinion.

“From many years of experience, we have seen that when business owners accept a single unsolicited offer from a buyer, they almost always leave millions or tens of millions on the table,” said Nix. “The problem with unsolicited offers is this – while the offer might be fair, you never know if it is the best you can do. You owe it to yourself and your family not to fall into this trap.”