Interstate Acquires American Red Ball World Wide Movers

Interstate Group Holdings, the Springfield, Virginia-based parent of Interstate Van Lines, has acquired Indianapolis-based American Red Ball World Wide Movers, one of the oldest movers of household goods in the United States.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, although company officials said the deal represents one of the largest acquisitions ever for Interstate.

“We’re excited about the synergies between the two organizations and the opportunity to leverage best practices, technology and talent,” said John Morrisette, president of Interstate Van Lines.

Katrina Blackwell, president of American Red Ball, said the deal positions the company for continued growth and “preserves our 98-year history with a company that reflects our culture and ethics.”

American Red Ball was established in 1919 by the Hiner family and performed the first long-distance move in the United States, according to a joint news release issued March 7.

In 1996, Atlas World Group acquired Red Ball Corp., the Seattle-based parent of American Red Ball. Later, Atlas sold the moving and storage business back to three key executives who continued to operate as American Red Ball and retained the international freight forwarding business of Red Ball International.

In the current deal, Interstate Van Lines agreed to buy out the interests of the three American Red Ball executives, which included recently retired Brad Beal, chief financial officer Dave Combs and Blackwell.

Going forward, American Red Ball’s national operations and agency network will merge with Interstate Van Lines, while the company’s international forwarding and local moving and storage business will operate as a separate business unit based in Indianapolis.

In an interview with Transport Topics last week, Morrissette said he will assume responsibility for both Interstate Van Lines and American Red Ball operations and that the company will retain all of the 25 employees working in the Indianapolis office of American Red Ball.

Interstate traces its history to 1943 and is considered one of the nation’s largest independent moving companies. The company generates annual revenue of about $100 million and provides transportation, warehousing, relocation management, logistics and real estate management services for government, corporate and individual clients.

Earlier this year, Interstate was among several companies based in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area that saw an influx of business from the demise of The Kane Co., a major commercial mover in the region.

(Left to right) Brad Beal, Dave Combs and Katrina Blackwell of American Red Ball and J.D. Morrissette, Ken Morrissette Jr., Ken Morrissette Sr. and Sang Han of Interstate.