• Equity investment to enable Span Alaska to offer additional services and meet growing customer demand
Evergreen Pacific Partners (Evergreen), Washington State’s largest private equity fund, announced today that it has completed an investment in Auburn, Washington-based Span Alaska Transportation, Inc. (Span Alaska), a leading provider of freight and logistics management services for the Alaska market. CEO Mike Landry and the Landry family will retain a significant ownership position and will be actively involved. President Tom Souply will continue to lead Span Alaska, supported by the outstanding service and operations teams at the company. The partnership will enable Span Alaska to add new equipment, increase service, invest in technology, and hire additional employees.
Span Alaska and its subsidiaries ship more than 200 million pounds of freight annually to Alaska, employ more than 100 people, and own more than 200 pieces of rolling equipment. In addition to its vast volume of shipments from the Lower 48 to Southcentral Alaska, the company also offers overnight service from Anchorage to both Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula, and provides LTL (less than truckload) service via barge from Seattle to Southeast Alaska.
“With its trusted name, experienced management team, and track record of customer satisfaction, Span Alaska is well-positioned to grow its share of the Alaska freight business,” said T.J. McGill, co-founder and managing partner of Evergreen Pacific Partners. “As industry consolidation continues, our investment in Span Alaska and partnership with the Landry family and management will enable them to keep the culture and team that has made them successful while being able to better compete for business.”
Span Alaska continues to invest in the future. With offices in Washington state (Auburn) and Alaska (Fairbanks, Kenai, Wasilla, and Anchorage), the company is constantly adding new equipment, upgrading its computer technologies, and most importantly, hiring employees who embody the company’s formula for success and customer satisfaction: experience, integrity, communication, and loyalty to the customer relationship.
“The team at Evergreen understood that our culture of service and customer satisfaction is what has made this company successful during its 30 year history,” said Mike Landry, CEO and son of founder Ray Landry. “With Evergreen’s investment, we don’t have to change our identity and how we service customers. We are able to keep our keen customer focus and maintain the great culture that our family has been building for 30 years. Evergreen’s investment will build on what we have and enable us to better invest in technology, equipment, and people. That will help us better serve existing customers while also acquiring new ones.”
Evergreen Pacific Partners, which manages two private equity funds totaling $700 million, invests in traditional buyouts, management led buyouts, and growth equity investments involving traditional middle-market companies in the Western U.S. and Canada. Its investors include foundations, endowments, pension funds, and West Coast-based CEOs with experience in Evergreen’s target industries.