Canadian trucker TFI to buy Daseke for $1.1 billion

TFI International Inc., a Canadian trucker that has been growing through acquisitions, agreed to purchase Daseke Inc. for $1.1 billion including debt. 

TFI will pay $8.30 a share in cash for Daseke, a Texas-based operator with 4,900 large trucks and 11,000 flatbed and specialized trailers, according to a statement released Friday. That’s a premium of 69% from the closing share price on Thursday. 

Prior to the announcement of the deal, Daseke’s shares had fallen 48% over the past two years amid a prolonged freight recession. 

Daseke shares surged 66% — the most since March of 2020 — to $8.12 as of 10:15 a.m. in New York. TFI rose 6% to $172.32. 

TFI said it will consider splitting into two publicly traded companies following the purchase of Daseke — one dedicated to long-haul trucking, known as truckload, and another with all its other trucking assets, including less-than-truckload. 

TFI became a large less-than-truckload carrier after purchasing the trucking unit of United Parcel Service Inc. in 2021 for $800 million. It has been growing through such acquisitions, snapping up six trucking operations in 2023 alone prior to the Daseke deal, according to Bloomberg data.