Roadrunner Transportation Services acquires The James Brooks Company

Non asset-based third-party logistics services provider Roadrunner Transportation Services (RRTS) said this week it has acquired all of the outstanding stock of The James Brooks Company for approximately $7.5 million.

The James Brooks Company is a provider of intermodal transportation and related services for the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach and Oakland, according to RRTS. The company primarily focuses on transporting various types of fresh produce, including citrus, vegetables, fruit, and nuts.

“The James Brooks acquisition substantially enhances the scale and critical mass of our drayage operations in key ports on the West Coast,” said Mark DiBlasi, President and CEO of RRTS, in a statement. “In addition, the company’s seasonality matches up well with our existing intermodal drayage business, which we believe will enhance our driver utilization and retention. We look forward to supporting and expanding James Brooks’ solid customer relationships and strong service record as we pursue continued growth in the business.”

For calendar year 2010, James Brooks generated approximately $12 million in revenues with operating margins in excess of 10 percent, said RRTS CFO Peter Armbuster. RRTS expects the acquisition to be accretive to its net earnings for the balance of 2011 and beyond.

RRTS officials were not available for additional comment at press time.

This week’s deal marks the third acquisition RRTS has made this year. In February, it acquired Morgan Southern, a privately-held provider of intermodal transportation and related services for roughly $20 million. And in June it acquired Wichita, Kansas-based truckload services provider Bruenger Trucking Company. The sale price for Bruenger, according to Roadrunner officials, was roughly $10.6 million, coupled with an earn-out capped at $3 million.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst David Ross wrote in a research note that this deal while not in its core LTL segment, fits with [RRTS] management’s strategy of small asset-light tuck-ins, as over 80 percent of James Brooks drivers are owner-operators. He added that Brooks has between 57-70 trucks running (depending on season), and its equipment is fairly new and meets all the California state requirements for drayage operators.