TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS Q3 2015 CONTACTS STATE OF THE TRANSPORATION M&A MARKET Experts continue to view the Transportation & Logistics industry as a measure of the health of the Len Batsevitsky overall economy and thus far, 2015 has been a strong year for providers of commercial Director transport. The industry has been aided by significantly lower oil prices, increased personal (617) 619-3365
[email protected] consumption, expanded manufacturing and the continued rise of e-commerce as a viable retail channel. As a result, many transportation companies are experiencing improved financial Daniel Schultz performance which, coupled with a robust middle market M&A environment, has led to a Director of Business Development significant increase in deal activity. Furthermore, the industry’s high fragmentation will serve to (617) 619-3368 increase M&A activity as companies look to consolidate, increasing their efficiency through scale.
[email protected] Overall, 2015 is shaping up to be a strong M&A year for the Transportation & Logistics industry Matthew Person because thus far through Q4, there have been 104 transactions. If that pace continues Associate (617) 619-3322 throughout the rest of calendar year, we could see nearly 140 M&A transactions during 2015,
[email protected] which would near the record breaking high of 144 transactions in 2012. Transportation and Logistics Transactions 160 144 140 113 120 108 108 104 100 80 80 60 40 20 0 BOSTON 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 YTD CHICAGO 9/30/2015 Sources: Capital IQ and Capstone Partners LLC research LONDON LOS ANGELES In addition, valuations have remained stable over the past several years with recent transaction PHILADELPHIA multiples for asset-light logistics businesses generally north of 8x LTM EBITDA, while traditional SAN DIEGO asset-heavy freight carriers (primarily in the trucking sub-industry) have traded at a range of 5x to 7x.