Benzinga | Jun 30, 2021 11:12AM EDT

Mullen Group Acquires US 3PL QuadExpress For $40M

Mullen Group has acquired Chicago-area 3PL QuadExpress for $40 million in a deal that gives one of Canada's largest trucking and logistics companies its first U.S.-based operation.

Mullen (TSX:MTL) bought QuadExpress from Wisconsin-based commercial printing company Quad (NYSE:QUAD). The 3PL primarily operates as a freight brokerage and generated $135 million in revenue in 2020, Mullen said on Wednesday.

Alberta-based Mullen Group, which operates trucking, logistics and oil services businesses from Ontario to British Columbia, has pointedly avoided U.S. acquisitions in contrast to competitors such as TFI International. But CEO Murray Mullen said, "There are limits to just how much we can grow in the Canadian market.

"The U.S. market, on the other hand, is a new market for our company, offering tremendous opportunity," Mullen said in a statement. "There is no doubt the U.S. market is key to the North American supply chain and we need to be there. With this acquisition, we gain immediate access to one of the largest markets in the world."

As part of the deal, Mullen Group also acquired SilverExpress, QuadExpress' proprietary transportation management system, which it "uses to align customer shipments" with carriers.

Quad also will continue to use QuadExpress' 3PL services as part of the deal.

Read more

* Canadian freight market poised for US-style recovery pop: Mullen Group CEO

* Canada's Mullen Group dips toe into truck sales with Bandstra acquisition

* Mullen Group plans to acquire APPS Transport Group

Click for more FreightWaves articles by Nate Tabak

Image Sourced from Pixabay