XTL Enhances North American Footprint Through Second Acquisition
TORONTO, Ont. – XTL Group is proud to announce today the acquisition of CBT Inc. (“CBT”), a logistics company based in Oakwood, GA.
CBT was founded in 1989 by Connie Banks and is strategically located in the Gainesville/Hall County area of Georgia famously known as the “Poultry Capital of the World”. Over the past 32 years, CBT has built an extensive transportation network around major food processors, food service providers and the grocery/retail industry that is abundant in this region. Refrigerated and frozen transportation service is a key part of their customer network. CBT has been recognized for many years as a certified woman-owned, family business, and Connie will continue to be an integral part of both CBT and XTL’s mutual success.
This acquisition is the second of its kind in XTL’s history, the first taking place in February of this year with the acquisition of Transport Savoie, a refrigerated, x-border carrier now operating as Savoie Express Inc., and is another strong example of XTL’s strategic refrigerated growth strategy and expansion.
“After many years servicing the domestic refrigerated market, we expanded into the x-border refrigerated market in 2018. Since then, we recognized the opportunity to advance our organic growth strategy with strategic acquisitions that further enhance our geographical footprint in North America.” states Serge Gagnon, President and CEO at XTL, “We knew we had the right fit when we met the exceptional team of dedicated professionals at CBT who embody our core values”.
In addition to being in alignment with the refrigerated segment of XTL’s business, CBT brings additional synergies to XTL’s Logistics offerings, including US domestic dry van, flat bed, heavy haul, over-sized, specialized, and hazmat services. The strategic location of Northeast Georgia also allows for XTL to increase their presence in the United States, open up opportunities between Canada and Mexico, and access US capacity.
“Serge Gagnon and his committed team of leaders at XTL complement the similar characters that CBT has built its reputation on. Together with my experienced team of employees we have brought to realization a dream I started 32 years ago and we are proud to have been chosen as XTL’s first US transportation partner. We are excited about the future growth and fresh ideas available to us.” -Connie Banks, founder and CEO of CBT.
This acquisition caps off a tremendous year for XTL in 2021 from a growth and diversity perspective. In addition to the two strategic acquisitions, XTL added 300,000 sq. ft. to their Distribution business through two new distribution centres in BC and ON bringing the total warehousing space to 1.2 million sq. ft., while also expanding their refrigerated Transport service in Western Canada to include the x-border US. For more information, visit www.xtl.com.