AIT Worldwide Logistics, a Jordan Company-backed provider of transport logistics services, will announce the acquisition of a Continental Europe-based business early next year, said Vaughn Moore, AIT’s chairman and CEO.

The Itasca, Illinois-based group, which Moore said generated 2022 revenue of USD 2.56bn, is renewing its pursuit of bolt-on targets with between USD 50m and USD 200m of revenue, having just completed two acquisitions. The European target is on the “larger side” of that range, he said.

In November and December, respectively, AIT acquired Netherlands-based Lubbers Logistics Group, significantly bulking up its presence in the oil and gas sector; and UK-based Mach II Shipping, which specializes in pharmaceutical distribution services. Terms were not disclosed for either transaction.

Until those two deals, the company stayed “very disciplined” regarding M&A following its purchase of New York City-based final mile delivery services group Select Express & Logistics, in late 2021, Moore said.

“We held firm because multiples went a little crazy,” he explained. “Now, since we’re in a very healthy financial position, and many of our competitors are not, we’ve become active. When others were paying out dividends and buying companies at high multiples, we waited, and I think that patience paid off.”

It has between five and 10 candidates in its pipeline and could buy two companies next year, after digesting its recent purchases, said the CEO.

He noted that the businesses it targets in the logistics space typically fetch single-digit multiples of EBITDA.

AIT wants to grow out its footprint in London and Amsterdam and move into the Nordic countries where it has less of a presence, said Moore. It will continue to invest in both its oil and gas and life sciences segments, he said. He declined to disclose new verticals the company wants to break into.

While it looks for M&A opportunities in the US, there are “not as many attractive targets as Europe has presented” at this time, said Moore. Because the European market is in a tough stage, there is less competition from prospective bidders, he explained.

Asked about an exit plan, Moore replied that no timeline has been established but projected a private equity trade is more than likely, depending on market conditions.

Kirkland & Ellis and Dutch firm NautaDutilh provided legal services to AIT on the Lubbers deal.

AIT generated USD 1bn in gross sales at the time of its 2021 sale to Jordan, according to a press release. Moore did not provide projected year-end 2023 revenue figures but predicted they should be well above USD 2bn.

AIT’s Likely-to-Exit (LTE) score is 28, according to Mergermarket’s Likely to Exit (LTE) predictive algorithm*.

by Sam Weisberg

* Mergermarket’s LTE predictive analytics assign a score to sponsor-backed companies to help track and predict when an exit could occur through M&A, an IPO, a direct listing or a deSPAC transaction.