RRTS acquires Marisol International, expands international services

Less than three months after announcing its most recent acquisitions, non asset-based third-party logistics services provider Roadrunner Transportation Systems Inc. (RRTS) is at it again, with the company announcing this week it has acquired all of the outstanding membership interests of Springfield, Missouri-based Marisol International LLC, a non asset-based supply chain-critical, provider of international logistics services.

RRTS said the purchase price was $66 million and an earn-out capped at $2.5 million. Company officials were not available for comment at press time, but RRTS will discuss the transaction on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday, July 31.

Marisol provides various supply chain services for shippers, including international ocean and air transportation management, customs house brokerage capabilities, and domestic logistics solutions for a diversified customer base ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small and mid-market enterprises, according to RRTS. Established in 2002, Marisol had revenues of $95 million and net revenues of $20 million for the year ended December 31, 2012.

“As we have indicated, one of our key strategic objectives in 2013 is broadening our international capabilities to meet our customers’ total transportation and logistics needs,” said Mark DiBlasi, President and CEO of Roadrunner, in a statement. “Many of our existing 35,000 customers import and export raw materials, purchased components, and finished products. Marisol represents an ideal fit both strategically and culturally.  The addition of Marisol will enable us to provide a comprehensive, global supply chain solution to our combined customer base. We will be able to handle full- and less-than container load shipments from origin to destination on a global basis for both refrigerated and dry freight.”

In early May, RRTS 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.

These acquisitions—and Marisol this week acquisitions RRTS mark the mark the ninth and tenth and 11th 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.

Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst Ben Hartford wrote in a research note that Roadrunner’s expansion into international services is a key ingredient for the company in achieving its long-term, five-year revenue target of $3-4 billion (from a base of $1.1 billion in 2012).

“With Marisol’s platform coupled with RRTS’ existing portfolio, we suspect RRTS’ acquisition strategy moving forward will be largely focused on adding density to existing product verticals,” Hartford wrote.