Landstar System Inc. announced the acquisition of two supply chain transportation integration companies, Premier Logistics Inc. and A3 Integration LLC. During the 2009 second quarter, Landstar incurred about $2.0 million in costs related to these acquisitions. These one-time acquisition related expenses will be reflected in the 2009 second-quarter income statement and will reduce the 2009 second-quarter diluted earnings per share by about $.02 per diluted share. The company expects that the acquisitions will not have a material effect on its revenue and earnings for the third and fourth quarters of 2009.
“Today is a very exciting day in the continuing evolution of Landstar,” says Henry Gerkens, president and chief executive officer of Landstar, based in Jacksonville, Fla. “These two technology-based acquisitions immediately position Landstar as a premier supply chain solutions provider for small and large customers alike in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) environment. Landstar independent sales agents will now be able to offer customers complete integrated supply chain solutions with industry-leading technology. Additionally, our third-party capacity should benefit from increased loading opportunities created through this new service offering.”
Premier, based in Detroit, will remain under the leadership of Scott Taylor as president. Premier provides dynamic freight management services for customers through its proprietary Web-based software. Through its operating subsidiaries, National Logistics Management and Interactive Capacity Gateway LLC, from purchase order to delivery, the Premier solution includes Web-based bidding, scheduling, shipping, tracking and reporting, allowing customers complete real-time visibility to follow their inbound and outbound shipments from pickup to destination.
Taylor brings more than 30 years of industry experience in transportation and software solutions. In 1989, he founded NLM to support the management of critical and dynamic freight. Under his leadership, Premier’s operating entities have received numerous awards and recognition for their innovative use of technology in the freight management industry.
A3i, based in Ann Arbor, Mich., will provide customers with state-of-the-art Web-based transportation and supply chain management technologies to optimize the complete order-to-cash process. The A3i solution offers shipment optimization, carrier visibility and supply chain event management, all with multilingual, multicurrency and multimodal capabilities.
Lorne Darnell, one of the principal officers and founders of A3i, will continue in his role as president. Darnell’s experience in the software and logistics industries totals more than 25 years. He is the former CEO and cofounder of LogiCorp Inc., the first nonasset-based 3PL company in the automotive manufacturing industry, and has served in various management positions at Ford Motor Co. and Rockwell International. He also co-founded and served as president of Data TV Networks Inc., a software company dedicated to the development of interactive solutions for digital cable TV.
“Premier and A3i provide complementary transportation management solutions that, together with Landstar’s existing information technology platform, place Landstar on the cutting edge of the transportation and logistics industry,” Gerkens says. “Scott Taylor and Lorne Darnell bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to Landstar, and I am very pleased to have them join Landstar’s management team.”
Both companies will operate as separate subsidiaries of Landstar Supply Chain Solutions Inc., a newly-formed Landstar company to be headed by Landstar Global Logistics Inc. president Jim Handoush.
