Redwood Logistics (Redwood), one of the fastest-growing supply chain and logistics companies in North America, announced a new strategic investment from AEA Investors (AEA), a leading global investment firm with over $15 billion in assets under management and a 50+ year legacy of partnering with leading middle market companies to accelerate growth. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. For the past four years, Redwood has been a portfolio company of CI Capital Partners and has grown exponentially through a combination of organic growth and multiple strategic acquisitions.
AEA’s significant investment underscores Redwood’s mission to revolutionize the freight industry by serving its customers at the intersection of logistics and technology. AEA will partner with Redwood’s CEO, Mark Yeager, and President, Todd Berger, along with the existing management team to help drive the next stage of growth for the company. As part of the transaction, AEA expects to commit substantial resources to fund additional acquisitions and organic growth initiatives.
“We are extremely enthusiastic to be joining the AEA family. This additional investment accelerates our organization’s strategic growth plan, all while retaining and underscoring our core values, unique Redwood culture and winning team,” said Mark Yeager, CEO, Redwood Logistics. “Our customers, carriers, vendors and employees will benefit greatly from this partnership as it enables us to accelerate the kind of aggressive innovation that led us to the development and launch of our Logistics Platform as a Service operating model.”
Redwood launched Logistics Platform as a Service (LPaaS) in May 2021, bridging the gap between logistics and technology through an interconnected and open platform that allows for effortless scaling and logistics network design. As the pioneer of the LPaaS approach, Redwood leverages RedwoodConnect™, Redwood’s proprietary iPaaS platform, to facilitate a single cohesive digital and physical supply chain that changes and adapts as their customers’ organizations evolve.
“Redwood’s management team has built an exceptional business, performing at the top of the freight industry and innovating ahead of the competition,” said Justin de La Chappelle, partner at AEA. “We are very excited about Redwood’s future, and we look forward to partnering with the Redwood team to help further expand its offerings and drive ongoing technology innovation.”
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Redwood employs more than 800 people and offers a wide range of strategically integrated transportation and logistics services, driving digital transformation within the supply chain. The acquisition comes on the heels of Redwood’s 20th anniversary, being recognized as Chicago’s Top Workplaces of 2021 by The Chicago Tribune, and receiving recognition among the 2022 FreightWaves’ FreightTech 25, an award spotlighting the most innovative leaders within the transportation industry.
