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Schneider IPO could fetch more than $4 billion, analyst estimates

Firm sets 2017 IPO target to end more than 80 years of private ownership.

One of trucking's most prominent families is poised to leave its nest.

Schneider National Inc., the nation's largest privately held trucking company, said late Friday that it intends to go public sometime in 2017 as long as market conditions are favorable. An initial public offering would end more than 80 years of mostly family leadership.


In a statement, the Green Bay, Wis.-based truckload and logistics giant said the objectives of a public offering "would be to facilitate continuity of controlling ownership of Schneider" for future generations and to "maintain and further investments in its long-term positioning." The company did not go into detail in the statement, and declined additional comment beyond the statement.

Schneider said total annual revenue today stands at about $4.2 billion. Based on that number, Benjamin Gordon, head of BG Strategic Advisors LLC, a logistics merger and acquisition consultancy, pegged a Schneider IPO at around $4 billion. Gordon presumed Schneider's operating margins were equal to the truckload industry's average of 15 percent of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). Gordon also estimated that a Schneider IPO would be valued at a multiple of 7 times trailing EBITDA. He arrived at the $4 billion approximate price tag by multiplying $600 million in annual margin by a multiple of seven.

The company was founded by Al Schneider in 1935. His son, Don, took the reins in 1976 and led the company through trucking deregulation in 1980, as well as significant expansion during ensuing years into multiple services and geographies. Don Schneider retired as president and CEO in 2002, turning the reins over to Christopher B. Lofgren, who still holds both positions. Don Schneider passed away in January 2012.

Gordon believes the Schneider family is the catalyst behind the company's decision to go public. Though Don Schneider had long ago relinquished day-to-day duties, his death created a void of sorts because there was no longer a family member at the helm, Gordon said. "With Chris Lofgren and the management team comprised of professional executives rather than family, there was a disconnect," Gordon said in an e-mail.

As a public company, Schneider would be able to generate capital for growth opportunities while providing liquidity for the family, Gordon said.

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Logistics gives back: February 2025

Here's our monthly roundup of some of the charitable works and donations by companies in the material handling and logistics space.

  • For the sixth consecutive year, dedicated contract carriage and freight management services provider Transervice Logistics Inc. collected books, CDs, DVDs, and magazines for Book Fairies, a nonprofit book donation organization in the New York Tri-State area. Transervice employees broke their own in-house record last year by donating 13 boxes of print and video assets to children in under-resourced communities on Long Island and the five boroughs of New York City.
  • Logistics real estate investment and development firm Dermody Properties has recognized eight community organizations in markets where it operates with its 2024 Annual Thanksgiving Capstone awards. The organizations, which included food banks and disaster relief agencies, received a combined $85,000 in awards ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.
  • Prime Inc. truck driver Dee Sova has donated $5,000 to Harmony House, an organization that provides shelter and support services to domestic violence survivors in Springfield, Missouri. The donation follows Sova's selection as the 2024 recipient of the Trucking Cares Foundation's John Lex Premier Achievement Award, which was accompanied by a $5,000 check to be given in her name to a charity of her choice.
  • Employees of dedicated contract carrier Lily Transportation donated dog food and supplies to a local animal shelter at a holiday event held at the company's Fort Worth, Texas, location. The event, which benefited City of Saginaw (Texas) Animal Services, was coordinated by "Lily Paws," a dedicated committee within Lily Transportation that focuses on improving the lives of shelter dogs nationwide.
  • Freight transportation conglomerate Averitt has continued its support of military service members by participating in the "10,000 for the Troops" card collection program organized by radio station New Country 96.3 KSCS in Dallas/Fort Worth. In 2024, Averitt associates collected and shipped more than 18,000 holiday cards to troops overseas. Contributions included cards from 17 different Averitt facilities, primarily in Texas, along with 4,000 cards from the company's corporate office in Cookeville, Tennessee.

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