Carousel Capital announced today that it has partnered with management to recapitalize Armstrong Transport Group, LLC, a leading non-asset based, logistics platform focused on providing freight brokerage solutions to a large and diverse customer base via a nationwide network of independent agents and employees.
Armstrong was founded in 2006 with the goal of building a freight brokerage platform to provide all the necessary tools an agent network needs to meet the growing and increasingly complex demands of shipper customers. Today, Armstrong is recognized as one of the Top 50 Freight Brokerage Firms in North America, facilitating nearly $500 million in transportation spend annually for over 4,000 customers.
Armstrong provides its nationwide network of employees and agents with a comprehensive suite of solutions including a leading proprietary technology platform, unparalleled back office and financial support, access to a network of over 40,000 carrier partners, and a highly competitive commission structure. Armstrong’s solutions enable agents to be entrepreneurs, concentrating on sales and growth, while Armstrong handles the back office administrative items such as transaction processing, customer invoicing, carrier onboarding and carrier payment. In addition, agents can leverage Armstrong’s brand name and reputation to grow their customer base and access additional carriers. Together with its network of agents and employees, Armstrong is focused on continuing to expand its reach and its service offerings for current and new customers.
“We are excited to partner with the Armstrong management team to help drive the continued rapid growth of the business. The Armstrong team has built an industry leading freight brokerage platform, and we believe the Company is uniquely positioned to capitalize on opportunities to expand its technology and services to continue to meet the needs of its customer base. We are also excited to leverage our successful experience with Transflo – a leading transportation technology platform we partnered with in 2013 – in the execution of
Armstrong’s growth strategy in partnership with the management team,” said Jason Schmidly, a Managing Partner of Carousel.
“Freight brokerage is such a dynamic market right now, particularly with the amount of new technology entering the market to provide supply chain visibility, confirm compliance, drive operational efficiencies, and create more dynamic pricing models. We are excited to partner with Armstrong during such an important inflection point in the industry,” said Al Welch, a Partner of Carousel.
“We chose Carousel as our partner due to their track record of partnering with growth-oriented tech-enabled platforms. Since this was our first investment from outside institutional capital, we were highly focused on finding the right partner that fit well culturally and could provide both financial support as well as strategic guidance as we assess and pursue our various growth opportunities. Carousel’s investment will allow us to accelerate our growth through investment in technology and the resources we need to continue building the Armstrong platform” said Brian Mann, CEO and President of Armstrong.
Carousel Capital funded the transaction with equity from its fifth investment fund, Carousel Capital Partners V, L.P. Senior debt financing was provided by Barings. K&L Gates served as legal advisor to Carousel Capital.
About Armstrong Transport Group, LLC:
Based in Charlotte, NC, Armstrong Transport Group is a non-asset based, third-party logistics platform focused on providing excellent customer service and logistics solutions. Recognized as one of the Top 50 Freight Brokerage Firms in North America, Armstrong serves its diverse customer base via a large network of dedicated employees and independent agents. For more information, visit www.armstrongtransport.com.
About Carousel Capital:
Carousel Capital is a private equity investment firm that invests in companies located in the Southeastern United States and has received commitments of more than $1.2 billion in capital across its funds. Carousel’s investor base includes institutional investors and an elite group of more than 100 current and former CEOs across the region. Since its inception, Carousel has invested in 40 companies primarily in three service sectors: business, consumer and healthcare. For more information about Carousel Capital, visit www.carouselcapital.com.
