Kenco acquires The Shippers Group, adds 3.8 million square-feet to warehousing footprint

Chattanooga, Tenn.-based 3PL Kenco said this week it has acquired Dallas-based third-party warehousing company The Shippers Group. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Established in 1901 as a regional warehousing company, The Shippers Group has subsequently become a nationally recognized leader in the warehousing, co-packaging, fulfillment, and transportation management space.

Kenco officials said that this deal augments the company’s service portfolio in various ways, including: increased capacity, broader geographic reach, and an expanded suite of services for the benefit of customers. What’s more, they added that bringing Shippers Group into the fold, Kenco’s warehousing footprint is set to increase by 3.8M square feet of space across eight sites in Florida, Georgia and Texas.  

“Kenco and The Shippers Group have highly complementary capabilities and share a culture of excellence,” said Denis Reilly, CEO of Kenco, in a statement. “Together, we bolster the combined suite of capabilities with increased scale and reach in key growth markets, enabling us to capitalize on market momentum, while continuing to deliver exceptional service to our customers. I have long admired The Shippers Group’s management team and look forward to working together in the next chapter of their growth.” 

And Rob Doyle, President at The Shippers Group said that becoming part of Kenco marks a pivotal moment in The Shippers Group’s journey to optimize supply chains for the benefit of its customers.

“Kenco has built an exceptional platform from which to scale, and I am confident that our customers will welcome access to Kenco’s proven operating systems,” he said. “Our alignment with Kenco’s culture, values, and commitment to innovation, coupled with Kenco’s infrastructure, positions us well to achieve new levels of performance and execute upon our growth opportunities.”

In an interview with LM, Kenco’s Reilly said that a major driver for this acquisition was related to Kenco’s desire to expand its footprint to meet the ever-changing demands of the logistics industry and continue to enhance its customer experience.

“By acquiring The Shippers Group, Kenco’s warehousing footprint grew by 3.8M square feet across key markets helping to bolster our multi-client capabilities as well as expand our suite of services to include co-packaging operations,” he said.

As for what made The Shippers Group an attractive acquisition target for Kenco, Reilly explained that as Kenco embarked on the first of many future acquisitions, we understood the importance of finding a company that could complement our culture, growing offerings and needs.

“From an operations perspective, we have a longstanding relationship with The Shippers Group and know that they would be a seamless fit with Kenco’s own values,” said Reilly. “We were also drawn to The Shippers Group to help their customer base grow using our own national footprint. We are excited to leverage our core competencies to add value to their experience and enable business growth.”

Through this deal, Reilly said that Kenco’s customers will benefit from access to eight new facilities located in prominent markets, increased transportation capacity, as well as co-packaging know-how and processes.

“These strengths combined with Kenco’s current offerings will ensure that our customers continue to experience industry-leading support,” he said.

For the next steps, Reilly said stemming from Kenco’s long-standing relationship with the owners and key executives at The Shippers Group, it anticipates a smooth transition.

“We’ve notified all employees about the business change and are excited to combine our forces as we move further into 2024,” he said.