Transplace to be acquired by private equity firm

Transplace, a Dallas-based third-party logistics service provider, said today it has been acquired by CI Capital Partners LLC, a New York-based private investment firm, for an undisclosed sum.

The transaction, agreed to by Transplace's four trucking company owners, will provide Transplace with the capital needed to expand into other areas of logistics both organically and through acquisition, the company said.

Founded in 2000, Transplace is owned by J.B. Hunt Transportation Services, Covenant Transport, Swift Transportation, and US Xpress Enterprises. The owners have always been passive investors and never considered Transplace an extension of their business models, according to Transplace CEO Tom Sanderson.

Transplace, which generates more than $700 million in annual revenue, has been self-sustaining for years and does not receive any financial support from its carrier owners, Sanderson said in an interview.

Sanderson said management pushed for the transaction as they sought an opportunity to obtain the capital needed to grow the business but that the carrier owners were not going to provide. He acknowledged that prospective Transplace customers have questioned the arm's-length nature of its relationship with the carrier owners. However, a desire to clear up that confusion was not a factor in executing the transaction, he said.

Under the transaction, all of Transplace's management team, including CEO Sanderson, will remain with the company.