Knight-Swift announces immediately accretive acquisition of Dependable, no terms

Effective July, 30 Knight-Swift Transportation acquired the operating assets and assumed certain liabilities of the non-union regional less-than-truckload division DHE of Dependable Highway Express Dependable, based in Los Angeles, California. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to Knight-Swift’s earnings per share. Knight-Swift CEO, Adam Miller, commented, “We are excited to take the next step toward building a nationwide LTL business, and especially to grow our network to include the key Southwest markets of California, Arizona, and Nevada. This transaction increases our LTL terminal and door counts by approximately 10% and brings our network’s coverage of the US population to approximately 70%. The strategic value of acquiring a strong Southwest competitor like DHE is meaningful given the impact to our coverage area significantly expands the customers we can serve as well as the difficulty of building or acquiring LTL facilities in many of these locations. DHE will connect with our existing AAA Cooper and MME businesses to provide seamless coast-to-coast service to our customers. Financial terms were not disclosed. The Company estimates that DHE generated approximately $122 million in total operating revenue over the past twelve months with an operating margin of approximately 10%. The DHE associates and assets will operate as a separate brand under the AAA Cooper corporate group. Joe Finney served as Chief Operating Officer of DHE prior to the transaction and will continue leading DHE as its President after the transaction. Scudder Law served as legal advisor to Knight-Swift. Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisor to Dependable, and Proskauer served as legal advisor to Dependable.