Monday, April 19, 2010 | Crain Communications Inc.
Largest private companies in Chicago ranked by 2009 revenue: Coyote Logistics LLC
By: H. Lee Murphy − Chicago, IL − (CHICAGO BUSINESS) − Most freight companies are sensitive to turns in the economy, but Lake Forest's Coyote Logistics LLC is out to prove it can grow even through a recession.
CEO Jeffrey Silver founded Coyote in April 2006. An infusion of capital from private-equity investor Warburg Pincus LLC of New York came a year later, followed by acquisitions of several rival logistics specialists, including a key takeover of General Freight Services Inc. of Atlanta last year.
Coyote saw revenue of $242 million in 2009, and Mr. Silver, 47, forecasts that the top line will surpass $300 million this year. He also signals that the deal-making is over for now.
"We have a strong base to grow organically from at the moment," Mr. Silver says. "We could do more deals, but we're not actively looking."
Intermodal freight, which employs transferrable containers that move easily from truck bed to railroad car to cargo ship, is a specialty of Coyote's.
John Langenfeld, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee, believes intermodal will become increasingly popular with shippers. "Intermodal remains a more efficient mode and has attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in railroad and government investment," he says. He predicts that most intermodal haulers will be raising prices this year, yielding more profits in the process.
In the past year, Coyote has won some new clients. It's handling logistics for distribution of Heineken beer in the U.S., winning a contract that had been split among several rivals.
Coyote now ranks among the top four independent logistics companies in the U.S. that don't own their own shipping assets. It still trails Hub Group Inc. of Downers Grove, which has annual revenue exceeding $1.5 billion.
Mr. Silver predicts that he and Warburg Pincus eventually will spin off Coyote as a public company: "We don't have a timetable. It could be three years from now or it could be five years. I'd imagine we'd get to $1 billion in annual sales before we try to go public."