Global freight forwarder AIT Worldwide Logistics announced an agreement Wednesday to recapitalize with The Jordan Company (TJC), a middle-market financial firm with a background in transportation and logistics investments like Capstone Logistics and GlobalTranz Enterprises.
AIT Worldwide will conclude its current equity partnership with Quad-C Management, which will sell its full stake to TJC at the end of March. The recapitalization is said to be valued at over $1.2 billion.
“TJC has proven success partnering with companies in our industry, and their international expertise will provide a distinct advantage for sustained organic growth and future acquisitions around the world,” said Vaughn Moore, AIT’s president and CEO.
Under the Quad-C partnership, AIT has more than doubled its gross revenue since 2017 and grown in such verticals as automotive, e-commerce, health care and industrial manufacturing.
In the last three and a half years, AIT has acquired 11 companies, including Panther Logistics, a U.K.-based final-mile provider that specializes in white-glove home deliveries, and German-based FIEGE Group’s international freight-forwarding division. These acquisitions have provided AIT with the resources to expand its global supply chain footprint with services including air and ocean freight, expedited ground, truck brokerage, residential delivery and customs brokerage offerings.
“We have had a terrific partnership with the AIT management and teammates,” said Tom Hickey, a partner at Quad-C. “The AIT team set forth a comprehensive growth strategy and executed on it, building the business to more than $1.2 billion of revenues and completing 11 acquisitions along the way. We are proud to have been AIT’s partners over this period and look forward to seeing the company’s continued success with its new partner, TJC.”
AIT will continue its strategic expansion plans with a focus on acquiring value-adding companies for its customer supply chains.
“We are excited that AIT’s leadership selected TJC as their partner in this recapitalization,” said Brian Higgins, head of TJC’s logistics and supply chain vertical. “We strongly believe in the team’s vision for continued growth in core freight forwarding services, as well as specialized supply chain solutions with an emphasis on trade between Asia, Europe and North America — all with a continued focus on their customers’ needs.”