TNT merges with Southway Crane & Rigging

TNT Crane & Rigging, Inc. has merged with the Southway Crane & Rigging Companies, headquartered in Macon, Georgia, American Cranes & Transport has learned exclusively. Southway is a full-service mobile crane provider with eight branches serving the Southeastern United States including Georgia, South Carolina, Northern Florida and Tennessee.

With the addition of Southway, TNT has expanded its geographic operations from mainly Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma to a crane and rigging company with operations from West Texas to the Atlantic seaboard, the company said. TNT now owns approximately 380 cranes and provides full service capabilities utilizing its portfolio of truck mounted, all-terrain, rough terrain, crawlers, mobile gantries and rigging solutions with lifting capacities ranging from three tons up to 1,330 tons.

The company said that it has further diversified its client base with the acquisition of Southway and their presence in the power, pulp and paper, telecom and mining sectors. TNT is a strong player in such sectors as refining, petrochemical, oil and gas, wind maintenance and general commercial construction.

“We are extremely excited to bring together two of the best crane companies in the business,” said Michael Appling, Jr., president and CEO of TNT. “This combination puts us in a stronger and more competitive position from numerous perspectives. We will achieve greater industry and geographic diversification which greatly mitigates our overall business and concentration risk. Our combined fleets and capabilities, strong customer relationships and deep operational experience provide an excellent runway for strategic growth through maximizing utilization, penetrating new contiguous markets and taking advantage of pull through customer relationships in new geographies.”

He said that both TNT and Southway work hard to be industry leaders in safety and operational excellence and this combination will strengthen their reputation and market position.

“We welcome the Southway employees into the TNT family and we enthusiastically look forward to building and growing a great company together,” he said.

Kregg Lunsford, who recently joined TNT as chief development officer, added, “Southway has an impressive management team and their approach to growing the business is perfectly aligned with our strategy. We are thrilled to join forces with Jerry Reynolds, Greg Fussell, James Simons, Guy Lopez and the entire Southway team.”

Lunsford said the human capital as a result with this transaction provides the company with critical leadership and experience that will enable TNT to perform safely and profitably at a high level and executing the company’s growth strategy.

Jerry Reynolds, founder and majority shareholder of Southway, will join TNT as executive vice president, running the Southeast region. He will continue as president of the Southway companies.

“Our employees are excited about this deal,” said Reynolds. “This expands our geographic footprint and we’ve already identified real opportunities to share assets and expertise across our respective regional markets and customers. Southway and TNT share a common culture around safety, excellent service and smart business. We are going to have a lot of fun taking this business to the next level.”

Founded in 1985, TNT is a leading crane and rigging services provider and a portfolio company of Odyssey Investment Partners. VRA Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to Southway in this transaction.

In 2012, TNT ranked number 16 on the ACT 100 list of largest crane companies in North America. This merger, plus the acquisition of the crane assets of Turner Brothers last year, could put the company in the top 10 of the ACT 100 for 2013.