Pallet powerhouse 48forty Solutions buys Texas firm Pallet-Ops
With 11th acquisition in two years, private equity-backed company expands national network.
The pallet providing powerhouse 48forty Solutions is growing even larger, adding a new acquisition this week when it announced it had taken over the Texas pallet management company Pallet-Ops.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but Alpharetta, Georgia-based 48forty is owned by the deep-pocketed investment firms Summit Partners and Audax Private Equity. Since taking on that new ownership in 2020, the company has made nearly a dozen acquisitions of smaller pallet companies, catapulting itself into position as one of the largest pallet management services companies in North America.
Before its latest acquisition, 48forty had bought Bo's Pallets Inc. in March and CALco Pallets in August, marking its 9th and 10th takeovers in two years.
Today, 48forty has a national network of over 242 facilities, including 65 company-owned and operated pallet recycling plants, 160 onsite locations, 11 reverse logistics centers, 5 sorting centers, and more than 850 service providers. It moves all those flat, wooden frames around the country with what it calls one of the nation's largest private fleets, counting 7,500 trailers and 500 tractors.
In buying Pallet-Ops, 48forty gains a company with 34 acres and 137,000 square feet of property across three Texas locations, employing 170 people and operating 386 trailers. "Acquiring this customer-focused business with a strong presence in three major markets in Texas ensures more seamless service to our customers in the region. We know Pallet Ops will fit right in with 48forty operationally and culturally," Mike Hachtman, CEO of 48forty, said in a release.