Transportation Impact, which developed into one of North Carolina’s fastest-growing companies by advising nearly 1,000 clients on how to trim shipping costs, has been acquired by a New York-based private equity group.
The Jordan Co. bought the Emerald Isle-based business on March 20 for an undisclosed sum after signing a preliminary agreement on Feb. 8. Co-founder and Chairman Keith Byrd will own a minority stake and serve as a director, while Berkley Stafford will remain as CEO.
“We’re excited because Jordan is a really good company that lets its operators operate,” Byrd says. “We didn’t go to auction because we wanted a company that fit with our core values.”
Based in the Carteret County beach town, the consulting business has ranked among Inc. magazine’s 5,000 fastest-growing U.S. companies seven times in a row and has revenue topping $40 million.
Partners Byrd and Travis Burt started the business in 2008 after spending a combined 43 years at Atlanta-based delivery giant United Parcel Service. Byrd started as a driver, while Burt joined as a part-time warehouse worker. Before forming their company, Byrd was working at UPS headquarters, while Burt was a senior regional manager based in Greenville.
Their industry knowledge enabled them to sign companies spending at least $200,000 on shipping contracts in which Transportation Impact gets paid a percentage of savings. Stafford joined the company in 2013 after working for UPS since 1992.
Jordan’s backing will enable the company to expand through acquisitions and accelerate its growth, Stafford says.
“We are extremely impressed by what the current management team and employees have accomplished in building TI into a technology-forward, market-leading business that drives ongoing savings and efficiencies for shippers,” Brian Higgins, a Jordan Co. partner, said in a press release.
The Jordan Co. is the same private equity company that joined with Durational Capital Management to buy Charlotte-based restaurant operator Bojangles for nearly $600 million in January 2019.
Transportation Impact has no plans to leave Emerald Isle, having signed a multiyear lease at the company’s headquarters, Byrd says.
The company is distinct from Hickory-based Transportation Insights, which is also controlled by a private equity group, Gryphon Investors of San Francisco.
