Private equity-backed logistics and transportation service provider Transportation Insight LLC has acquired the supply chain consulting firm Spend Management Experts LLC in a move to increase its focus on small parcel and e-commerce capabilities, the company said today.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed but Hickory, North Carolina-based Transportation Insight said that Spend Management Experts’ founder and CEO, John Haber, will now lead the company’s small parcel division and maintain his firm’s Atlanta-based office.
In addition, Transportation Insight said its "vertical strategy” would be complemented by Spend Management Experts’ portfolio of supply chain customers specializing in retail, manufacturing, and distribution across consumer products, medical, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, luxury products, and consumer electronics. Spend Management Experts provides parcel optimization, transportation management, and e-commerce services.
The move comes as shippers have faced vast challenges over the past year in managing capacity and cost during the pandemic and associated e-commerce surge.
“By combining both companies' scale, we provide more resources to our existing customer base, and create one of the largest small parcel management and optimization companies in North America," Haber said in a release. "In 2020, large parcel shippers were forced to reevaluate their carrier relationships. Capacity and price were key challenges to maintaining a competitive edge and will continue to be major challenges in 2021. By uniting with Transportation Insight, the team will provide our combined client base with best-in-class strategy and planning solutions."
The acquisition is the latest expansion by Transportation Insight, after the private equity firm Gryphon Investors bought a majority stake in the company in 2018. Just weeks after that move, Transportation Insight itself bought a majority stake in the freight brokerage Nolan Transportation Group. And in 2019, the company went on to acquire the less than truckload (LTL) freight brokerage Meridian Logistics LLC (known as FreightPros), as well as transportation management provider The Transportation Specialist’s Group Inc. (TSG).
