Werner Enterprises Inc. is giving its final-mile business a big shot in the arm with the acquisition of a Connecticut business that specializes in furniture and appliance deliveries.
The top executives of Omaha-based Werner say their $64 million deal for NEHDS Logistics will grow revenues for the final-mile segment of their logistics division to more than $100 million in 2022 and provide them a profitable platform to add services a number of their customers have been asking for.
On a conference call with analysts this week, Chairman, President and CEO Derek Leathers said the purchase of NEHDS—which does most of its business in the densely populated Northeast and had $71 million in sales in the past 12 months—will let his team expand that company’s 15-year-old two-men-and-a-truck model as well as several new services across Werner’s national footprint.
“We think the future is very bright,” Leathers said. “This is not ‘Hang a shingle and hope the customers will come.’”
NEHDS employs more than 400 two-person teams and works from 12 managed and seven customer sites. Founder and President Gerry Burdo and his team count Macy’s and Bob’s Discount Furniture among their customers and have in recent years expanded from their initial base to the Mid-Atlantic as well as Georgia.
Werner’s final-mile business sits inside the company’s logistics segment, which posted revenues of $437 million and operating income of about $16 million in the first nine months of this year. Leathers and his team said this week they see the sales number growing to $700 million in 2022 and expect logistics to become a larger contributor to Werner’s overall top line in coming years. Through Sept. 30 of this year, the division accounted for 22% of revenues.
