The next six to nine months could see a tremendous uptick in trucking company deal announcements in North America, Spencer Tenney, president and CEO of The Tenney Group, said during a Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) webinar this week.

He said owners of trucking and logistics companies could fetch a premium for their businesses in 2021, thanks to pent-up buyer demand that was put on hold due to the pandemic and an increase in interest from non-traditional buyers, reports Today’s Trucking.

He predicted a 20% uptick in overall transactions (by value) in 2021, with valuations up 10% for companies with US$50 million or more in revenue.

“As we get to the end of 2021 and the supply of available companies normalizes, so will the current leverage at the negotiating table for sellers.”

Many trucking company owners looking to exit the business in 2020 put those plans on hold to help their companies weather the storm created by the pandemic. Meanwhile, buyers threw out their playbooks, added Eric LeMarbre, managing director with the Tenney Group.

“A lot of things happened in 2020 that we don’t anticipate happening again,” LeMarbre said.

But the fundamental driver of M&A – deals getting done when a buyer has a need that a seller can meet – remains today, he added. The number of trucking and logistics transactions counted by The Tenney Group was up last year, despite a period of inactivity caused by the pandemic.

“That gives us a lot of expectation for 2021 activity of pent-up need,” LeMarbre reasoned.

Full story here.