Barloworld Acquires Springdale Company
Barloworld Ltd., a South African industrial brand management firm, announced on March 24 that it paid $5 million to acquire Northwest Arkansas Truck and Equipment Inc. in Springdale.
The local firm operates Freightliner truck dealerships in Springdale and Van Buren and has annual sales of more than $62 million. The deal added to the seven other Freightliner dealerships that Barloworld owns in Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi.
Publicly traded J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell, P.A.M. Transportation Services Inc. of Tontitown and USA Truck Inc. of Van Buren are customers of the local dealerships.
Scott Simmons, president of Barloworld’s Freightliner division in Memphis, said in a press release that his firm believes it will find synergies locally that will help its business.
The operation will be run by Barloworld’s existing Arkansas management team based in Little Rock. Plans include retaining the dealership’s more than 100 employees.