Titanium Makes First Acquisition Since Going Public
Titanium Transportation Group, based in Woodbridge, Ontario, has agreed to acquire ProNorth Transportation, a North Bay, Ontario, freight carrier, for a combination of cash and stock.
The acquisition is the first since Titanium stock began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in April. The company also raised C$11.5 million in a private sale of stock in July.
Titanium has completed eight acquisitions since 2011 and operates a fleet of 450 power units and 1,200 trailers. It is on track to generate annual revenue of more than C$140 million, company officials said.
Titanium CEO Ted Daniel said the purchase of ProNorth will provide entry into the truckload van shipping market in northern Ontario and provide cross-selling opportunities for the company’s other transportation and logistics sevices.
Under terms of a definitive purchase agreement, Titanium will pay C$5.8 million and issue 1.75 million shares to acquire all ProNorth stock. In addition, the company will purchase certain real estate, including terminals in North Bay and Sudbury, for C$2.5 million.
“This acquisition is highly accretive to Titanium shareholders and offers an attractive combination of synergies and growth opportunities,” Daniel said in a statement Dec. 1.
In April, after Titanium stock began trading under the symbol TTR, Daniel said the company “has a pipeline of future acquisition targets in place and as a public company can now offer a further enhanced opportunity for vendors in the rapidly consolidating Canadian trucking industry.”
The company said it would target carriers with revenue of less than C$50 million, which are too small to be of interest to larger consolidators, such as Mullen Group and TransForce Inc.
Titanium is seeking profitable family-owned companies in which the founder or majority owner is looking to retire or cash out and has “no interest in turnarounds,” according to a recent presentation by the company for investors.
In March, the company acquired Muskoka Transport Ltd. in Bracebridge, Ontario. In 2014, Titanium acquired Georgian Bay Transport based in Penetanguishene, Ontario.
