"We're Doing What We Said We Would": AIT Worldwide CEO Talks Acquisition Strategy

AIT Worldwide Logistics announced its largest acquisition to date earlier this week. The global supply chain mainstay purchased Los Angeles-based Unitrans International Corporation in a play to bolster its international airfreight services. 

AIT President and CEO Vaughn Moore said the company approaches all acquisitions with the goal of further fulfilling its vision statement, and Unitrans was no different. 

AIT's vision is to "become the global logistics provider respected for delivering a world-class experience." Unitrans will help the company accomplish this vision because of its global scope, particularly in the international airfreight arena, according to Moore. 

Unitrans had a little over 100 employees before the acquisition, bringing AIT's employee count to over 1,100 after the purchase.

Moore declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal, but he did note that Unitrans was a stable company at the time of acquisition. 

"They were a very long-standing, stable and successful company," he said. "One of the main reasons we invested in them was their stability and longevity. When we announced the purchase internally last Friday, that was the 42nd anniversary for their company."

AIT will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in early September. 

The purchase came on the heels of two other acquisitions – WorldFresh Express and ConneXion World Cargo – late last year. Moore said the company's acquisitive stance is a reflection of its growth plan. 

"We're executing what we laid out as our plan," Moore said. "We're doing what we said we would do, and that is to invest in companies that are representing areas that help us grow in our global footprint, further enhance our existing verticals and allow our client base to have a broader reach and scope of services."

While Unitrans gives the company a stronger foothold in the international airfreight space, the WorldFresh acquisition allowed AIT to expand into produce, thus building on the vertical sector. The ConneXion World Cargo acquisition expanded AIT's global footprint and gave the company a much stronger European presence.

Moore noted that AIT is experiencing organic growth on top of the growth brought by its recent acquisitions. He sees this growth as evidence that the company process is a success, and he intends to stick with it. 

"Our goal is to continue executing on what we said we would do –  continue acquiring companies, continue to grow and continue to invest in ourselves and our model," Moore said. "We're still climbing the mountain. We have a lot we still want to do, and we want to be able to grow."

Moore is more focused on climbing the mountain and trusting the journey than predicting what he may find at the top. 

"A lot of people have asked me if I'm trying to build to a $1 billion or a certain number of offices," he said. "We focus on the process of being better every day, and we believe the outcome will take care of itself. If that outcome is to reach over $1 billion or over 100 offices, that will come with us just executing on our process."

While AIT is enjoying its growth, Moore noted that the company always aims to grow the right way. For him, that means remaining cognizant of the company's existing culture and employees when making decisions. 

AIT is currently preparing to announce a new location in the near future.

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