P&M Corporate Finance, LLC (“PMCF”) is pleased to announce that it served as the exclusive financial advisor to Integrity Express Logistics, LLC (“IEL” or the “Company”) in its sale of a minority interest to EVE Partners, LLC (“EVE”).
Headquartered in Blue Ash, Ohio, IEL is a leading asset-light provider of third-party logistics (“3PL”) services across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Company services nearly every end market of the economy, providing full truckload, less-than-truckload, dry van flatbed/heavy haul, intermodal, and specialized rail transport logistics support, with special expertise in refrigerated transport.
Founded by current shareholders, IEL has evolved into one of the fastest growing 3PL companies in North America, ranking #27 on the Transport Topics 2020 Top 50 list of largest logistics companies in North America. Leveraging an internally developed, proprietary technology platform, the Company has grown by emphasizing and providing customer-centric service backed by tech-enabled logistical solutions. Today, IEL brings together 3,000+ customers and a network of 90,000+ carriers, across a system of 10 facilities, to deliver nearly 200,000 loads annually.
Founded in 2002, EVE is an investment firm focused on the Transportation and Logistics (“T&L”) industry. EVE has been involved in 147 transactions in the T&L space, originally as an advisor and since 2012 as an investor. EVE partners with entrepreneurial owners and management teams looking to accelerate growth in their own business while maintaining a significant equity stake. IEL fit that criteria, with Jim Steger, Co-Founder and CEO of IEL remarking, “We are pleased to have found a partner in EVE with the relationships, knowledge, and resources to accelerate our growth trajectory. We are looking forward to working with EVE as we continue to grow while maintaining our culture of employee engagement that makes IEL one of the most sought after 3PL providers to work for today.”
PMCF served as exclusive investment banker to the shareholders of IEL, managing the entire transaction process. Steger added, “We hired PMCF to help us find the optimal transaction partner for IEL. They introduced us to a number of potential partners that ultimately led to this transaction. The creativity and responsiveness of PMCF during the pandemic allowed us to complete this transaction and bring on a great partner to the IEL team.”
The transaction closed in March 2021. Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP served as the legal advisor to the Company.
ABOUT PMCF
PMCF is a middle market investment bank providing merger and acquisition advisory services to private, public, and private equity owned companies. PMCF provides a broad range of services including sale advisory, acquisition advisory, capital raising, transaction planning and strategic advisory. The firm has dedicated professionals focused on plastics & packaging, business & technology services, automotive, distribution, transportation & logistics, aerospace & defense, medical technology, and consumer & retail industries. PMCF has offices in Chicago, Detroit, Denver, and globally through its ownership in Corporate Finance International™.