Minneapolis—Sept. 25, 2012—C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. reached a stock purchase agreement to acquire privately-held international freight forwarder Phoenix International Inc., Chicago, for $571.5 million in cash and approximately $63.5 million in newly-issued C.H. Robinson stock.
“Phoenix is a high quality growth company that brings additional expertise and scale to a key part of our long term growth strategy,” said John Wiehoff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, C.H. Robinson. “Along with their proven track record of success, Phoenix has strong customer and carrier relationships, a talented management team and excellent people and a performance-based company culture that is very similar to Robinson’s.”
“We see significant long-term opportunity in international forwarding as global trade expands, scale and technology continue to become more important, and shippers increasingly look to transportation providers to provide global services,” Wiehoff continued. “Together, Robinson and Phoenix will be in a strong competitive position to capitalize on those growth opportunities and continue expanding our market share.”
The agreement is subject to certain customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. Closing of the acquisition is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2012. C.H. Robinson, a global multimodal transportation services and logistics solutions provider, will use existing cash and plans to enter into a revolving credit facility with major banks to finance the cash portion of the purchase price. The acquisition is expected to be modestly accretive in the first year.
In its most recently completed fiscal year—as of June 30, 2012—Phoenix generated gross revenues of approximately $807 million, net revenues of approximately $161 million and adjusted operating income of approximately $48 million. The company currently serves approximately 15,000 customers globally and has approximately 2,000 employees, located in 76 offices in 15 countries.
Bill McInerney, Executive Chairman of Phoenix, founded the company in 1979. Following the completion of the acquisition, McInerney plans to retire. Other key executive management will assume management positions with C.H. Robinson. Phoenix Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Rambaud will lead the combined international freight forwarding services of C.H. Robinson and Phoenix.
“It was our top priority to ensure that Phoenix be acquired by an organization that is strongly positioned for success, while sharing similar cultural values of service and performance,” said McInerney. “Joining with C.H. Robinson enables Phoenix to offer its customers a broader menu of services, leverage combined volumes more efficiently, and provide employees with even greater career path opportunities. Although I will not be part of the enterprise going forward, I share the enthusiasm for the future that has so excited the Phoenix leadership team and I believe strongly that C.H. Robinson offers exactly the premier global logistics network that was needed.”
