KJM Capital acquires refrigerated carrier

Private equity firm KJM Capital LLC, has acquired Sunco Carriers Inc., adding a second refrigerated trucking line to its growing family of carriers, the company said Tuesday. Terms of the transaction were not announced.

Orlando, Fla.-based KJM specializes in buying out family- or founder-owned businesses, with a focus on business services, specialty manufacturing and distribution, and third-party logistics/transportation. The firm plans to expand that collection and is on the lookout for additional takeover targets, KJM said.

"Several additional acquisitions are planned for the near term, as the company continues to build a family of temperature-controlled, truckload carriers that will be integrated on a common transportation-management software platform to offer seamless services to customers," KJM Founder and Senior Managing Director Kenneth J. Meister said in a release.

Lakeland, Fla.-based Sunco, doing business as Watkins Refrigerated, runs a fleet of more than 200 tractors and 400 refrigerated trailers in the South and Midwest, providing service for both refrigerated and dry commodities. The company also offers logistics brokerage services that can extend that coverage beyond Watkins assets or add capacity for seasonal spikes in demand.

KJM also bought Charles Gantt Trucking (now Gantt Trucking LLC) of Lexington, S.C., in April 2015. Gantt specializes in the transportation of frozen food products for producers and food service companies, primarily in the Southeast, Midwest, and Northeast markets.