Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Former XPO chief Brad Jacobs builds $1 billion war chest for another acquisition run

Investor announces plan to take over software firm called SilverSun Technologies and use it to buy up targets in an unnamed industry

silversun Screen Shot 2023-12-04 at 12.57.21 PM.png

Former XPO Logistics Inc. chief executive Brad Jacobs is reloading his quiver of arrows to start hunting for acquisition targets again, announcing today that he has invested nearly $1 billion in a software reseller called SilverSun Technologies Inc. and will convert the company into “a standalone platform for significant acquisitions in an industry to be announced soon.”

Beginning in 2012, Jacobs built XPO into a sprawling conglomerate of less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation, brokerage, and warehousing services before breaking it up again in 2021 into the independent companies XPO, GXO, and RXO.


His latest maneuver is to invest $900 million in cash from his Greenwich, Connecticut-based investment firm Jacobs Private Equity II LLC (JPE), along with another $100 million from minority co-investors including Sequoia Heritage, into East Hanover, New Jersey-based SilverSun.

That move will make JPE the majority stockholder of SilverSun and make Jacobs the company’s new chief executive officer and chairman of its board of directors. With that leverage, Jacobs said he plans to spin-off SilverSun’s existing business to its stockholders, rename the company, and convert the remaining organization into “a standalone platform for significant acquisitions in an industry to be announced soon,” he said in a release.

In a statement, Jacobs said, “I’m excited to start building another multibillion-dollar company from scratch. Soon, I’ll be providing more information about my new venture and industry, and the strategy we plan to execute.”

Today, SilverSun defines itself as a firm that provides management applications and professional consulting services to small and medium size businesses (SMBs) in the manufacturing, distribution, and service industries. More specifically, the SilverSun subsidiary SWK Technologies Inc. is a value-added reseller (VAR) for a number of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendors. Its customers include over 5,000 clients concentrated in the manufacturing, distribution, services, and construction industries as well as industries with high compliance demands such as healthcare and financial services.

The company’s current management and board of directors, including Mark Meller, SilverSun’s chief executive officer, are expected to continue in their current roles at the spin-off company and its subsidiaries.



 

 

 

 

 

Recent

More Stories

AI tops digital supply chain investment priorities

AI tops digital supply chain investment priorities

Investing in artificial intelligence (AI) is a top priority for supply chain leaders as they develop their organization’s technology roadmap, according to data from research and consulting firm Gartner.

AI—including machine learning—and Generative AI (GenAI) ranked as the top two priorities for digital supply chain investments globally among more than 400 supply chain leaders surveyed earlier this year. But key differences apply regionally and by job responsibility, according to the research.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

shopper survey holiday peak

Rakuten: shoppers do not plan to increase their 2024 holiday spend

An overwhelming majority (81%) of shoppers do not plan to increase their holiday spend this year over last year, revealing a significant disconnect between retail marketers and shoppers in the weeks before peak season, according to online shopping platform provider Rakuten.

That result flies in the face of high confidence levels from retailers who have been delaying their marketing spend, as 79% of marketers are optimistic they will reach holiday sales objectives, and 65% are timing their spend as late as November.

Keep ReadingShow less
voting stickers for election results analysis

Report: Manufacturing leaders should think beyond November election

U.S. manufacturing leaders should think beyond November and focus on responsiveness for building long-term success regardless of who occupies the Oval Office in 2025, according to a report from Propel Software about uncertainty on business conditions as the presidential election approaches.

Regardless of the elected administration, the future likely holds significant changes for trade, taxes, and regulatory compliance. As a result, it’s crucial that U.S. businesses avoid making decisions contingent on election outcomes, and instead focus on resilience, agility, and growth, according to California-based Propel, which provides a product value management (PVM) platform for manufacturing, medical device, and consumer electronics industries.

Keep ReadingShow less
fuel cell truck EPA port grant zero emissions

EPA awards $3 billion through Clean Ports Program

Port authorities across the country will get help in purchasing zero-emission equipment thanks to $3 billion in federal funding to decarbonize their operations, the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) said today.

Provided by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Ports Program, the money will flow through 55 grants across 27 states and territories.

Keep ReadingShow less
person shopping for relex holiday trends survey

Survey: retailers face a “highly challenging” holiday season

The majority of American consumers (86%) plan to reduce their holiday shopping budgets this year, with nearly half (47%) expecting to cut spending by more than 50% compared to last year, according to consumer research from Relex Solutions.

The forecast runs against some other studies that predict the upcoming holiday shopping season will be stronger than last year, with higher sales and earlier shopping than 2023.

Keep ReadingShow less