United we thrive

They say a job well done is its own reward. Thankfully, there are other perks. Masters of their trade understand their industry to the extent that they can offer expanded services to customers; the basis of organic business growth.

Certainly, that was the thinking at the heart of EVE Partners when it was established in 2002. The investment group was born on the back of its founders’ innate knowledge of the transportation and logistics industry, and today provides investors with a method of investment siloed strictly within that sector.

And as Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner JJ Schickel tells The CEO Magazine, it’s all about unlocking hidden potential.

“I was exposed to the world of private equity early on in my career,” he recalls. “I learned a lot about mergers and acquisitions, and taking companies public.”

Creating value

After years with investment banks, Schickel took on a CFO role at a trucking company.

“It was really interesting. The industry was, in my opinion, generally 30 years behind where it needed to be from a technology standpoint. But if you showed up, if you cared, if you worked hard, you could do really well in the sector,” he explains.

“If you could find a way to apply technology in a useful way, you could create something great for your employees and your customers, and also an asymmetric advantage for yourself in terms of winning business.”

With business booming, Schickel co-founded a logistics company. “It ended up doing really well,” he says. The sale of it became a “perfect stepping-off point”.

The experience inspired the creation of EVE (or Equity Value Enhancement) Partners.

“We partner with companies in the transportation and logistics space and show them the maximum potential of their customer base,” he says.

“If you’re doing a great job and your customers like you, and you’re able to provide more services to them at a competitive rate, it would make sense to add those services. At EVE Partners, we’re able to help companies build business models that unlock their total potential value and create cross-sell opportunities.”

This is where equity value enhancement comes in. Sometimes, Schickel says, it’s easier to acquire a new service rather than build from scratch.

“We think about how to work in a productive way with our partners, and that involves acquisitions, scale, capital and technology.”

Trusted allies

How EVE Partners brings the goods to the table for its customers comes down to expertise and partnerships.

“We’ve been a part of many amazing companies and have had the privilege to be around amazing leaders,” Schickel confirms.

Esteemed law firm King & Spalding is among those in EVE Partners’ stable of allies.

“Through this collaboration, we have helped five family-owned business become the dominant market leader in their respective sector,” he explains.

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“EVE Partners are pros at what they do – they understand complex transactions, have a great brand and expertise in the logistics space, and they are great value-add partners for their portfolio companies.” – Rahul Patel, Partner, King & Spalding

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Schickel says the company’s bank of shared knowledge is formidable.

“We try to use the same groups over and over for that reason,” he says. “We typically use Deloitte on the accounting front and Korn Ferry on the talent front, for instance. Repetition is important because they begin to better understand your risk tolerance. We don’t have to reeducate every time we pick up where we left off.”

It also means that any mistakes are made in tandem.

“If we make a mistake, they’re around to watch how it happened and perhaps avoid it the next time, or at least create appropriate risk guardrails around those types of things. Partnerships are key for those reasons,” he points out.

Driven by passion

Having a firm finger on the pulse of the transportation and logistics sectors has been key to Schickel’s success for years and, he hopes, years to come.

“In 2015, we had the opportunity to invest in a domestic forwarding company called Omni Logistics,” he recalls. “At the same time, the ‘less than full truckload’ (LTL) market was shifting dramatically away from being on schedule to yield. Profitability per load was up. The companies did way better as a result.”

Omni, the new EVE acquisition, was set to be a big beneficiary of that seismic change, and somewhere along the way, Schickel was made CEO.

“It wasn’t necessarily normal that I’d go in and take an operating role, but it was an interesting and unique situation. It ended up being really fun,” he says.

By the time Schickel’s term was up in 2024, EVE had finalized a merger of Omni and Forward Air, which became one of the largest logistics transactions in United States history.

“Forward Air is the largest expedited LTL player, so they were an obvious great business to merge with,” he confirms. Among the partners instrumental in the “Omni ecosystem”, as he describes it, was J.P. Morgan.

For Schickel, it was just another example of the benefits and virtues of the logistics and transportation space.

“I’m lucky to be in an industry I really enjoy, that I’m fascinated by. I like to be a part of building and trying new things, and there are a lot of areas where that’s possible. But I didn’t fall in love with the industry itself; I fell in love with the people. They care a lot about making customers happy, and that servant mentality suited me really well. Everyone in the company has a uniting purpose.”

It was a concept that resonated strongly with Schickel and one that has served the company well over the years.

“I feel very fortunate to work with an amazing team at EVE Partners. We’ve come a long way since 2002, but we’re still able to make work fun,” he says.

“It’s obviously more fun to win a new piece of business or retain an important one than to lose it because of things you could have done better. If you have a good organization of accountability and you nurture your relationships, then work can be fun no matter what it is. And that’s something we strive for at EVE Partners.”