Centurion gears up acquisitions with Triton

Hazelmere-based trucking business Centurion had made its second major acquisition in two months, buying Welshpool-based heavy haulers Triton Transport Services.

It follows a June deal where Centurion picked up around 50 vehicles from Fuel Trans Australia, and a range of trucking contracts in metropolitan Perth and Kalgoorlie.

The Fuel Trans deal was to support a contract with recently ASX-listed Viva Energy, delivering fuel to a supply base in Kalgoorlie and other regional locations.

The Triton purchase will bring with it around 250 pieces of equipment and 100 freight trailers.

Although the company did not disclose the value of the transaction, Triton’s EBITDA for the year to June 2018 was $6.5 million, implying a price of around $30 million assuming an earnings multiple of about five.

There seems to be a mood towards transactions in the trucking space in the past 12 months.

West Perth-based CTI Logistics bought regional freight company Stirling Freight Express in May, in a move worth $4.5 million.

Chinese conglomerate HNA Group had hoped to pay $400 million for Automotive Holdings Group’s refrigerated logistics business in a deal announced in November, but the deal fell over earlier this month.

In Triton’s case, owner Ben Murphy will become Centurion’s general manager of heavy haulage in WA.

Centurion chief executive Justin Cardaci said Triton was a respected logistics provider in the mining and mining services sectors in WA, adding that the acquisition was strategically sound.

“They have a strong reputation for safety and reliability as well as a diverse range of specialist capabilities that includes heavy machinery transport for equipment up to 200 tonnes,” Mr Cardaci said.

He said he expected heavy haulage markets to begin to improve.

“There is an increasing amount of project activity in the WA mining sector as economic conditions improve and these additional resources will position us well to capitalise on this upturn,” Mr Cardaci said.