As Daseke heads into the New Year, bright developments are on the horizon.
In building North America’s premier flatbed/specialized transportation company, Daseke has a track record of merging with quality companies that share the same values and focus. The Daseke Board of Directors, which includes the operating companies’ presidents, has been working on a new and slightly different kind of merger.
“We’re very excited to announce our merger with HCAC II (“Hennessy”), a company dedicated to investing in high-quality industrial firms like ours,” said Don Daseke, president and CEO of Daseke Inc. “Hennessy will be making a minority investment in Daseke using publicly traded stock. That investment will allow Daseke to become a public company. The current Daseke shareholders will still own approximately 60% percent of the company and there will be no management changes.”
According to Don, there are three main reasons for becoming a public company: 1) add more outstanding companies to the Daseke family, as we continue to build the premier open-deck trucking company in North America, 2) provide stock ownership plans for all our employees, and 3) invest in our world-class operating companies to support growth and ensure one of the most modern, efficient and safest fleets in the industry.
Daseke is already one of the fastest growing trucking companies in North America, growing from $30 million in revenue in 2009 to more than $650 million by the end of 2016. “Today, we’re the largest owner and operator of open deck equipment in North America,” said Don. “The size of the open deck transportation market is $130 billion a year, and we are building a company focused on meeting the evolving needs of those customers. Our strategy as a public company, and having our employees as owners, will help take our journey to the next level. We have proudly brought together a family of many of the top-rated open deck operating companies; we look forward to more outstanding companies joining our family as we grow.”
As a public company, Daseke will be able to offer stock plans that benefit all employees. Details of the stock plans will be shared once the merger closes in a few months. “This has been our dream since the very beginning,” said Don. “We have always envisioned that employees of Daseke would share in our growth and have the opportunity to become owners. This most recent merger announcement will make it all possible. By being owners together, we are committed to the success of this company and our future is incredibly bright. Our philosophy from the very beginning has been to ‘Invest in People.’ This is a major step forward on our journey as we build Daseke, together!”
Please enjoy Don’s video message.
