The logistics-focused private equity firm Open Road Ventures (ORV) this week acquired Double-Stack Logistics, a Dallas-based intermodal freight broker that says it provides cost-effective rail transportation to shippers and manufacturers searching for affordable alternatives to moving goods over the road.
Double-Stack calls itself an asset-based Intermodal Marketing Company (IMC) that owns and operates more than 150 rail containers.
“We have our own fleet of containers that move on the rail, and that’s pretty unique for a company our size,” Double-Stack Founder & CEO Joe Kolb said in a release. “You’ve got some very large, billion dollar-plus companies that own equipment, but for a mid-sized company like Double-Stack to have our own equipment is a testament to the strength of our brokerage. We will only be stronger as an ORV company.”
According to Double-Stack, the company generates about half of its revenue from standard over the road (OTR) and traditional intermodal freight, and the other half from over the road conversions. “We take items that typically don’t ship intermodal and work with the railroads to come up with a plan to shift and move that product from over the road to intermodal,” Kolb said. “That’s one of our sweet spots and what we’re really good at.”
The deal marks Valparaiso, Indiana-based ORV’s first acquisition, but the firm said that more will follow. “Our goal is to bring like-minded business owners together who possess unique logistics tools so that each one of these entities can benefit from each other’s expertise,” said Mike Riccio, Founding Member of Open Road Ventures and Founder of More Than Miles Consulting. “We have a series of acquisitions in the works and look forward to bringing new partners onboard in the coming months.”
