Forward Air Corporation Announces Acquisition of Linn Star Holdings, Inc., Linn Star Transfer, Inc., and Linn Star Logistics, LLC

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GREENEVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Forward Air Corporation (NASDAQ:FWRD) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Linn Star Holdings, Inc., Linn Star Transfer, Inc. and Linn Star Logistics, LLC (collectively referred to as “LSHI”), a privately held final mile provider for cash consideration of $57.2 million. The transaction will not include LSHI’s California operations. The closing of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including, but not limited to, compliance with the covenants and agreements in the definitive agreement. It is anticipated that the transaction will be funded from cash on hand and will close in January 2020.

LSHI specializes in last mile logistics and in-home installation services for a range of national retailers and manufacturers. LSHI is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, IA and has operations primarily in the Midwest and Southwest regions.

Tom Schmitt, Chairman, President and CEO, commenting on the acquisition said, “I am thrilled to welcome all Linn Star team members to our family. Four years ago we started taking our Precision Execution DNA directly to our customers' homes. With the 1-2 punch of adding FSA in the spring and now Linn Star, we have substantially expanded our capabilities in this targeted space with a Midwest footprint that is very complementary to, and not duplicative of, our existing footprint. Within 12 months we will have gone from 8 to 83 markets which likely makes us a top 5 player in the U.S. and we are not done yet."

Dennis Munson, founder and CEO of LSHI, added, “We are excited to join the Forward team. We believe the synergies achieved by combining our operations will allow Forward to further its strategy to be a world class final mile solution provider.”

With respect to this acquisition’s anticipated impact on Forward Air’s operating results, Michael J. Morris, CFO, said, “We anticipate that the acquired operations will generate approximately $90 Million of revenue and $8.3 million of EBITDA on an annualized basis. LSHI will be assigned to the final mile division of the Expedited LTL segment.”

About Forward Air Corporation

Forward Air keeps your business moving forward by providing services within four business segments: Expedited LTL (provides expedited regional, inter-regional and national LTL services, including local pick-up and delivery, shipment consolidation/deconsolidation, warehousing, final mile solutions and customs brokerage by utilizing a comprehensive national network of terminals); Truckload Premium Services (provides expedited truckload brokerage, dedicated fleet services, as well as high-security and temperature-controlled logistics services); Intermodal (provides first-and last-mile high-value drayage services both to and from seaports and railheads, dedicated contract and Container Freight Station warehouse and handling services); and Pool Distribution (provides high-frequency handling and distribution of time sensitive product to numerous destinations within a specific geographic region). For more information, visit the Investor Relations portion of the Company’s website at ir.forwardaircorp.com.

This press release may contain statements that might be considered as forward-looking statements or predictions of future operations including with respect the expected (i) funding and timing of closing of the LSHI acquisition, (ii) growth of the LSHI business after closing, (iii) strategic enhancements to final mile operations, (iv) contribution to the Company’s revenue and EBITDA from the LSHI business, and (v) assignment to the final mile division of the Expedited LTL segment. Such statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on management’s belief or interpretation of information currently available. These statements and assumptions involve certain risks and uncertainties including that the conditions to closing are not met and the closing is delayed or never occurs, that the performance of the LSHI business post-closing is worse than anticipated and that the Company is not able to achieve the planned synergies. Actual events may also differ from these expectations as a result of the risks identified from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider the forward-looking statement contained herein in light of such risks. We assume no duty to update these statements as of any future date.

Forward Air Corporation
Michael J. Morris, 404-362-8933
mmorris@forwardair.com

Source: Forward Air Corporation

Released December 12, 2019