Calera Capital, a leading middle-market private equity firm, announced today an investment in Rock-It Cargo LLC (“Rock-It” or the “Company”) in partnership with Rock-It management. 

Rock-It, headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, is a leading provider of specialty freight forwarding and logistics services.  The Company was founded in 1978 with an initial focus on providing international freight forwarding services to the global music touring and live events industries.  Over the past nine years, Rock-It has expanded into complementary non-touring logistics markets including specialty industrial projects, corporate live events, sports events, theatre, trade shows and fine art exhibitions.  Across all markets, the Company’s logistics projects are characterized by international destinations, a meaningful degree of complexity, and critical time sensitivity. 

James Halow, a Principal at Calera Capital, stated, “We have spent over 18 months getting to know Rock-It’s management and its business and are excited about partnering with the Company in the next stage of its development.  Rock-It has strong brands, a long track record of executing for its clients and an attractive, defensible business model.  As such, the business should be uniquely positioned to benefit from strong underlying trends in music touring and continued expansion in new and existing markets.”

David Bernstein, CEO of Rock-It Cargo, said, “The Company has an incredible set of opportunities ahead of it.  Calera will be a valued partner as we look to further extend the Rock-It platform, enable our independent brands to grow more quickly, execute on operational initiatives and grow in targeted segments both organically and through acquisition.  Most importantly, we fully intend to preserve the strong, client-focused culture that has driven our success as we pursue these opportunities and continue to build the business.”

Calera Capital will be investing in Rock-It through its fourth fund and on an all equity basis.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

About Rock-It Cargo
Rock-It Cargo LLC excels at delivering logistics solutions for the most challenging projects.  The Company specializes in handling complex itineraries, international destinations, fragile cargo and time-sensitive schedules – all with the highest degree of critical planning, execution and customer-focused service.  Rock-It Cargo is a global organization with over 200 employees in 23 offices in the US and around the world.  For more information, please visit www.rockitcargo.com. 

About Calera Capital
Founded in 1991, Calera Capital, formerly known as Fremont Partners, is a private investment firm which has approximately $2.8 billion of capital under management. With offices in San Francisco and Boston, Calera invests across a diverse range of industries including financial services, business services, food and consumer, healthcare, building products, and industrial manufacturing. Calera Capital makes substantial equity investments in operating companies, typically with enterprise values up to $1 billion, and seeks to build long-term sustainable value by working with management teams to implement strategic and operating initiatives. 

The securities referred to above have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States unless registered under the Securities Act or under an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. 

For more information, contact:
Michael Mandelbaum
Mandelbaum Partners
(310) 785-0810
michael@mandelbaumpartners.com