Estes trucking subsidiary to buy Minn. supply chain co.

EFW CEO Scott Fisher. Photo courtesy of Doug Ash, Estes Forwarding Worldwide.

EFW expects revenues of $850M this year

Courtney Mabeus-Brown// September 14, 2023//

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Estes Forwarding Worldwide, a wholly owned subsidiary of Richmond-based Estes Express Lines, plans to acquire Superior Brokerage Services, a Minneapolis-based, single-sourced supply chain company specializing in domestic and international transportation, U.S. customs brokerage services and warehousing.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but EFW CEO Scott Fisher told Virginia Business on Thursday that the deal is all cash and expected to close in October. He expects the combined companies’ revenues to reach $850 million this year, and to grow to more than $1 billion by 2025. It brings the company’s total employee headcount from about 650 to more than 1,100.

“Our yearly growth has been 35% over the last 20 years, so we feel very good to hit that billion-dollar mark in 2025,” Fisher said.

The deal is the 20-year-old company’s fourth acquisition and is in line with the company’s growth plans. Fisher hinted at another acquisition to come. The Superior Brokerage Services acquisition gives EFW better end-to-end solutions for U.S. customers and also provides it with a footprint in Asia, including a control center in Taiwan that manages the flow of business from that region of the globe to the U.S., said Lance Harcrow, EFW’s chief operating officer.

It also will boost EFW’s warehousing from about 4 million square feet to more than 7.5 million square feet, with locations scattered across the U.S. and adds an asset-based trucking division, which Fisher said will make it among the top 25 warehousing contract logistics companies in North America.

Paul Goff, SBS’s founder and president, will stay on as executive vice present with EFW and will maintain its location in Minneapolis.

“We are thrilled to join the Estes family and bring our expertise to EFW. While we have similar philosophies, our companies have succeeded in different areas,” Goff said in a statement. “Combining our strengths will enable us to better serve customers across the globe.”

EFW started as a domestic air freight forwarder about two decades ago and has grown into a third-party logistics freight forwarder. It acquired Lewis Logistics in 2021, and in March acquired Reading, Pennsylvania-based trade show and event logistics company Legacy Logistics. EFW parent company Estes Express Lines, one of the nation’s largest privately owned freight carriers, has been in a bidding war over the bankrupt Yellow trucking company’s extensive real estate holdings, and on Wednesday offered $1.525 billion for its properties, The Wall Street Journal reported.

On Wednesday, Estes Chair and CEO Rob Estes and his wife, Jean, announced a matching gift incentive of $125,000 to the VA250 Mobile Museum Experience to celebrate the United States’ upcoming 250th birthday and in honor of the Virginia Trucking Association. Every dollar donated to the VA250 Mobile Museum Experience, which aims to bring the story of Virginia’s role in the American Revolution across the state in 2024, will be matched by the couple, up to $125,000.

“We are honored to support the VA250 Mobile Museum Experience,” Estes said in a statement. “This museum will be a great way to teach children and adults about the history of American independence in Virginia. We hope our gift will encourage others to give as well.”

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