Skip to content
Search AI Powered
Human content, AI powered search.

Latest Stories

Former XPO chief Brad Jacobs builds $1 billion war chest for another acquisition run

Investor announces plan to take over software firm called SilverSun Technologies and use it to buy up targets in an unnamed industry

silversun Screen Shot 2023-12-04 at 12.57.21 PM.png
Ben Ames
By Ben AmesDec 04, 2023
Ben Ames
Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
See Full Bio

Former XPO Logistics Inc. chief executive Brad Jacobs is reloading his quiver of arrows to start hunting for acquisition targets again, announcing today that he has invested nearly $1 billion in a software reseller called SilverSun Technologies Inc. and will convert the company into “a standalone platform for significant acquisitions in an industry to be announced soon.”

Beginning in 2012, Jacobs built XPO into a sprawling conglomerate of less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation, brokerage, and warehousing services before breaking it up again in 2021 into the independent companies XPO, GXO, and RXO.

His latest maneuver is to invest $900 million in cash from his Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment firm Jacobs Private Equity II LLC (JPE), along with another $100 million from minority co-investors including Sequoia Heritage, into East Hanover, New Jersey-based SilverSun.

That move will make JPE the majority stockholder of SilverSun and make Jacobs the company’s new chief executive officer and chairman of its board of directors. With that leverage, Jacobs said he plans to spin-off SilverSun’s existing business to its stockholders, rename the company, and convert the remaining organization into “a standalone platform for significant acquisitions in an industry to be announced soon,” he said in a release.

In a statement, Jacobs said, “I’m excited to start building another multibillion-dollar company from scratch. Soon, I’ll be providing more information about my new venture and industry, and the strategy we plan to execute.”

Today, SilverSun defines itself as a firm that provides management applications and professional consulting services to small and medium size businesses (SMBs) in the manufacturing, distribution, and service industries. More specifically, the SilverSun subsidiary SWK Technologies Inc. is a value-added reseller (VAR) for a number of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendors. Its customers include over 5,000 clients concentrated in the manufacturing, distribution, services, and construction industries as well as industries with high compliance demands such as healthcare and financial services.

The company’s current management and board of directors, including Mark Meller, SilverSun’s chief executive officer, are expected to continue in their current roles at the spin-off company and its subsidiaries.



 

 

 

 

 

ArticleEditorialTransportationTruckingSC Services
xporxogxo
ArticleEditorialTransportationTruckingSC Services
xporxogxo

The Latest

More Stories

U.S. shoppers embrace second-hand shopping

U.S. shoppers embrace second-hand shopping

Nearly one-third of American consumers have increased their secondhand purchases in the past year, revealing a jump in “recommerce” according to a buyer survey from ShipStation, a provider of web-based shipping and order fulfillment solutions.

The number comes from a survey of 500 U.S. consumers showing that nearly one in four (23%) Americans lack confidence in making purchases over $200 in the next six months. Due to economic uncertainty, savvy shoppers are looking for ways to save money without sacrificing quality or style, the research found.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

seegrid CR1_Renders_1-2_11zon.png
Article

Seegrid lands $50 million backing for autonomous lift trucks

CMA CGM offers awards for top startups

CMA CGM offers awards for top startups

Some of the the most promising startup firms in maritime transport, logistics, and media will soon be named in an international competition launched today by maritime freight carrier CMA CGM.

Entrepreneurs worldwide in those three sectors have until October 15 to apply via CMA CGM’s ZEBOX website. Winners will receive funding, media exposure through CMA Media, tailored support, and collaboration opportunities with the CMA CGM Group on strategic projects.

Keep ReadingShow less
xeneta air-freight.jpeg

Air cargo carriers enjoy 24% rise in average spot rates

The global air cargo market’s hot summer of double-digit demand growth continued in August with average spot rates showing their largest year-on-year jump with a 24% increase, according to the latest weekly analysis by Xeneta.

Xeneta cited two reasons to explain the increase. First, Global average air cargo spot rates reached $2.68 per kg in August due to continuing supply and demand imbalance. That came as August's global cargo supply grew at its slowest ratio in 2024 to-date at 2% year-on-year, while global cargo demand continued its double-digit growth, rising +11%.

Keep ReadingShow less
littler Screenshot 2024-09-04 at 2.59.02 PM.png

Congressional gridlock and election outcomes complicate search for labor

Worker shortages remain a persistent challenge for U.S. employers, even as labor force participation for prime-age workers continues to increase, according to an industry report from labor law firm Littler Mendelson P.C.

The report cites data showing that there are approximately 1.7 million workers missing from the post-pandemic workforce and that 38% of small firms are unable to fill open positions. At the same time, the “skills gap” in the workforce is accelerating as automation and AI create significant shifts in how work is performed.

Keep ReadingShow less
stax PR_13August2024-NEW.jpg

Toyota picks vendor to control smokestack emissions from its ro-ro ships

Stax Engineering, the venture-backed startup that provides smokestack emissions reduction services for maritime ships, will service all vessels from Toyota Motor North America Inc. visiting the Toyota Berth at the Port of Long Beach, according to a new five-year deal announced today.

Beginning in 2025 to coincide with new California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards, STAX will become the first and only emissions control provider to service roll-on/roll-off (ro-ros) vessels in the state of California, the company said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Copyright ©2024.