C.H. Robinson Buys DeSpir Logistics for About $75 Million in Cash

What happened

C.H. Robinson acquired DeSpir Logistics, a Lisle, Illinois, provider of secure transportation and cargo escort services for high-value freight across North America, on June 22, 2026. The deal closed the day it was announced. C.H. Robinson paid approximately $75 million in cash, funded from cash on hand, and said it expects the acquisition to be slightly accretive to its 2026 earnings.

The seller

Ron Devitt and John Carr founded DeSpir in 2014. The company specializes in high-value, high-risk and temperature-controlled cargo, from cold chain shipments and pharmaceuticals to high-value electronics and medical devices, and serves customers in healthcare, life sciences, data centers, aerospace and high-value retail.

DeSpir moves that freight through hand-selected, continuously monitored carrier partners, backed by a network of security escorts and law enforcement professionals, and tracks shipments on its proprietary EyeOnIt platform. Its quality management standards are based on GDP and TAPA guidelines. It holds TAPA FBSR Tier 1 certification and GDP accreditation from the Healthcare Distribution Alliance. CargoNet gave it its Best in Cargo Security award in 2021, Crain's Chicago Business has named it a Fast 50 company in multiple years, and Devitt has served on the board of the Midwest Cargo Security Council.

Carr, DeSpir's managing partner, said joining C.H. Robinson "allows us to extend that expertise to more customers, while continuing to deliver the level of control and precision our customers have always expected from us."

The buyer

C.H. Robinson is a Nasdaq-listed freight broker based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. It serves 75,000 customers and 450,000 contract carriers and manages 37 million shipments a year, representing $23 billion in freight, across truckload, LTL, ocean, air and other services.

Adam McDonough, its vice president of capacity, said: "With DeSpir, we're strengthening how we help customers move freight that requires an extra layer of protection." Michael Castagnetto, president of North American Surface Transportation, put it this way: "We're taking very specific, nuanced expertise and coupling it with our scale."

How rarely C.H. Robinson buys

FreightWaves reported that DeSpir is the first acquisition C.H. Robinson has announced since June 2021, when it bought Europe-based Combinex Holding B.V. for $14.7 million. In between, it bought Breaker19, an oilfield logistics company, in the fourth quarter of 2025 without a statement at the time; the company appears in C.H. Robinson's 10-K only as a subsidiary. C.H. Robinson says Breaker19 continues to operate with the same focus, technology and approach, and that its carriers keep their existing logins but must sign a contract update to keep hauling.

Chief financial officer Damon Lee, quoted by FreightWaves, said: "We have a very high bar for M&A. We're not going to make a mistake on M&A." He described the kind of company that fits as a "specialized small, medium-sized player that gives us capability that we don't have today." Owners weighing what a strategic buyer looks for can read our guide to selling a logistics company.

What this means for secure transportation owners

C.H. Robinson's executives described DeSpir in terms of its controls: vetted carriers and drivers, certifications, ongoing audits, cargo escorts and logisticians who know high-value freight. None of them described it in terms of trucks or lanes. For a secure transportation owner, that is a deal in which the accreditations, the carrier-vetting process and the law enforcement relationships were the things the buyer's own people named, and a buyer this selective paid cash for them. An owner whose TAPA or GDP standing, vetting records, and escort network are documented and audited holds the kind of asset described here: one whose security practice lives with the founders holds less of it.

OffDeal is an advisory firm that helps lower-middle-market business owners sell with confidence. Reach out to learn more about our expertise with secure transportation businesses in Illinois.

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Source: C.H. Robinson - https://www.chrobinson.com/en-us/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/2026/ch-robinson-acquires-despir-logistics/