Total Quality, a provider of transportation and logistics services and a portfolio company of HCI Equity Partners, has been sold to Forward Air Corporation. HCI Equity Partners first invested in Total Quality in March 2008.
Total Quality (TQI) is a niche transportation services company focused primarily on cold chain transportation and logistics (transportation of temperature sensitive shipments ranging from food products to pharmaceuticals). TQI also provides brokerage services and third party logistics services to customers in a variety of end markets. The company was founded in 1992 and is based in Grand Haven, MI (www.shiptqi.com).
Harris Williams & Co. acted as the exclusive financial advisor to TQI. The transaction closed on March 4, 2013, and was led by Frank Mountcastle, Jason Bass, Jershon Jones and Jeff Kidd from the firm’s Transportation & Logistics Group.
“With a strong market leadership position, compelling industry fundamentals and great prospects for continued growth, TQI represents a truly unique platform in the transportation and logistics services sector serving the pharmaceutical industry,” said Frank Mountcastle, a managing director at Harris Williams & Co. and co-head of the firm’s Transportation & Logistics Group. “This transaction is a terrific example of a continued trend in transportation and logistics M&A that we are seeing – strategic acquirers seeking opportunities in industry-focused, niche transportation and logistics services, such as pharma logistics.”
HCI Equity Partners invests in industrial products and service companies that have from $20 million to $200 million in annual revenue. Sectors of interest include aerospace & defense; automotive aftermarket; distribution; energy services; federal services; infrastructure products & services; niche manufacturing; power generation components; test & measurement; and transportation & logistics. HCI Equity has offices in Washington, DC; Chicago and Minneapolis (www.hciequity.com).
Forward Air operates two business segments, Forward Air, Inc. and Forward Air Solutions, Inc. Forward Air, Inc. is a service contractor to the air cargo industry providing time-definite ground transportation services through a network of 84 terminals located on or near major airports in the United States and Canada. Forward Air Solutions, Inc. is a provider of pool distribution services. Pool distribution involves the consolidation and shipment of several smaller less-than-truckload shipments to a common area or region. The company is based in Greeneville, TN (www.forwardair.com).
© 2013 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-8-13
