Article written by Lauren Coffey
One of Tampa Bay’s largest private companies is making another acquisition as part of a $255 million plan set in place in 2016 — and it involves a Chicago company.
BlueGrace Logistics announced Monday it is acquiring Chicago-based Anthym Logistics, a freight broker company that has offices in Tampa, Florida, and Chicago.
BlueGrace, which also has a presence in Chicago, is a third-party logistics company that outsources certain elements of distribution services. The company received $255 million in 2016 from private-equity firm Warburg Pincus.
With the newly announced deal, Anthym Logistics’ technology, which utilizes refrigerated carriers, will be utilized by BlueGrace.
“The leaders of Anthym Logistics are some of the most highly respected members of the logistics community,” said Bobby Harris, BlueGrace Logistics founder and CEO, in a statement. “With sales expertise across all modes of transportation, BlueGrace is gaining an incredible bevy of supply chain talent that would otherwise require many years to develop internally. We are making a giant leap forward today that will ensure we maintain and even accelerate the momentum that we have developed over the last decade.”
Anthym Logistics CEO Eddie Leshin will become the senior adviser to BlueGrace’s CEO Harris.
“BlueGrace can offer the clients we have developed at Anthym Logistics a full suite of technology and reporting capabilities to help manage and grow their businesses,” Leshin said.
The merger will allow BlueGrace Logistics to cover 15 regional and branch locations across the nation and open two new offices — in Boca Raton, Florida, and in Birmingham, Alabama.
The company generated more than $360 million in revenue in 2019 and celebrated its 10-year anniversary.
Original Source: https://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2020/03/09/tampa-bay-logistics-company-acquires-chicago.html