INDIANAPOLIS – December 4, 2008 - Celadon Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CLDN) has announced that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries today purchased the truckload, intermodal and brokerage business, as well as approximately 400 tractors and 1,100 trailers of Continental Express Inc. (“Continental”) for approximately $24 million. According to the seller’s unaudited financial statements, the Little Rock, Arkansas-based company generated approximately $92 million in gross revenue in 2007.
Celadon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Steve Russell stated, “We are delighted with the Continental acquisition and expect it to follow the pattern established in our acquisitions during the past six years. In those acquisitions, as in this one, our goals are to continue to broaden our customer base with quality customers, add density in our primary traffic lanes, and gain experienced drivers.
"Based on our evaluation of the business, we believe Continental has quality customers and drivers, but suffered from a cost structure that plagues many mid-sized carriers. We expect to integrate the acquired operations promptly. As part of the integration process, we expect to optimize the combined customer, driver, and equipment base to improve asset productivity. We believe we can enhance the service to Continental’s former customers through an upgraded equipment fleet, excellent technology, more available assets for dispatch, and an outstanding safety record. We expect the acquired operations to be accretive beginning in the March 2009 quarter."
Celadon will hold a conference call to discuss its fiscal second quarter financial and operating results and the impact of the acquisition on Thursday, Jan. 22 at 10:00 a.m. ET. Participants may join the conference by dialing 866-383-7998 (international calls dial 617-597-5329) and entering passcode 23656581 a few minutes prior to the starting time. A replay will be available through March 22 by dialing 888-286-8010 (international calls dial 617-801-6888) and entering passcode 86691726.
Celadon Group Inc. (www.celadongroup.com), through its subsidiaries, primarily provides long-haul, full-truckload freight service across the United States, Canada and Mexico. The company also owns TruckersB2B Inc. (www.truckersb2b.com) which provides cost savings to member fleets; Celadon Dedicated Services, which provides supply chain management solutions, such as warehousing and dedicated fleet services; and Celadon Brokerage Services.
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