Ironwood Capital has made an investment in Cox Transportation Services (Cox), a provider of truckload freight services. The majority recapitalisation was led by Expedition Capital Partners and Tecum Capital, with a subordinated debt and equity investment provided by Ironwood Capital. The three groups joined to back CEO Jay Smith in support of the company’s continued growth.
Established in 1982, Cox provides freight hauling and brokerage services to customers in a diversified group of industries across the U.S. The Company specialises in transporting time-sensitive full truckload freight on a local, regional and national basis. Cox also operates a brokerage division that serves carriers and freight customers with logistics optimisation services. The Company is based in Ashland, VA. Adding additional assets to support growth with both existing and new customers, as well as acquiring attractive businesses with complementary routes and customer bases, represent the core of Cox’s strategic growth plans.
CEO Jay Smith says: “I am thrilled to join with Expedition, Tecum and Ironwood as we begin this exciting next phase of Cox’s growth in the coming years. We have numerous organic growth opportunities available to Cox with both existing and new customers. We also see significant opportunity for acquisitions where there are a number of highly profitable, synergistic targets that align well with our core competencies.”
“We are excited to partner with Jay, the entire Cox team, Tecum and Ironwood Capital on this transaction, and we look forward to continuing to build on the success of Cox for many years to come,” says Michael Hendrie, Managing Director of Expedition Capital Partners. “With Jay and his team now equipped with the necessary resources to drive growth, we’re very excited about the future of Cox.”
“After previously partnering with Jay in 2014 to finance his original acquisition of Cox, we couldn’t be happier to be backing him once again as we look to grow Cox into a substantially larger business,” says Matt Harnett, Partner at Tecum Capital. “Our collective investment will provide Jay and his team the necessary capital they need to realise the substantial growth potential in their strategic plans.”
Stephen Gurgovits, Jr, Managing Partner at Tecum Capital, says: “We are excited to partner with Expedition, Ironwood Capital and Jay Smith as we collectively progress the Company through its next phase of growth. Jay Smith and the Cox team are well-positioned to build on their previous success and have a number of exciting organic and acquisition based growth opportunities.”
“In the large, fragmented trucking industry, Cox stands out as a leader due to its long-standing commitment to customer service,” says Dickson Suit, managing director at Ironwood Capital. “Cox is primed to take advantage of its position in the market and grow both organically and via acquisition as we provide the business with the resources it needs to achieve its growth plans.”
The Deal Team from Tecum Capital consisted of Matt Harnett, Husnain Safdar and Paul Oris. The Deal Team from Ironwood Capital consisted of Dickson Suit, Paul Witinski and Tyler Klenk.
