Courtesy of Benzinga.
The Board of Directors of Heartland Express (NASDAQ: HTLD) is pleased to announce today that it has acquired 100% of the stock of Gordon Trucking, Inc. of Pacific, Washington (“GTI”) and certain associated assets in transactions valued at approximately $300 million. With combined total revenue of approximately $1 billion and a terminal network spanning from Washington to Florida and from Pennsylvania to Southern California, Heartland estimates the combined companies will operate the fifth largest asset-based truckload fleet in North America. Steve and Scott Gordon have joined Heartland’s management team. Larry and Virginia Gordon will retire after 50 years of building GTI, and Larry Gordon has joined Heartland’s Board of Directors. The transactions are expected to be immediately accretive to Heartland’s earnings per share, excluding transaction-related expenses.
Highlights
Total transactions value at closing of approximately $300 million consisting of cash, Heartland stock, and assumed GTI debt, before taking into account approximately $60 million in net present value of expected future cash tax savings attributable to a Section 338(h)(10) tax election.
Total transactions valued at closing, on a debt-free, cash-free basis, at approximately 5.0x adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”)
