Panther Expedited Services Inc., Seville has acquired Integres Global Logistics, a California based freight forwarding and logistics company. Integres offers shippers access to air and deferred air ground transportation networks. This acquisition will make Panther the largest full service premium logistics provider. Integres will also bring with it all its blue chip clients, giving Panther a much wider reach than before, especially on the West Coast. Seventy new people will join the 300-strong workforce at Panther. So in addition to ground expedite, Panther will now provide real time freight quoting, booking and shipment-tracking information from the time the shipment is picked up to delivery on all-important freight. The acquisition came about with Panther’s customers requesting Panther to handle more freight.

Panther is a portfolio company of Fenway Partners, New York, which is a middle market private equity firm. Fenway has extensive transportation and logistics experience and practice. In June last year, Panther filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission to make the company public.

Elsewhere, the Apollo Management Group, in its bid to buy transport company EGL Inc. has filed a suit against EGL. This is to stop the sale of EGL to a group of investors headed by its chief executive officer. Also, Apollo has upped its offer to $41 per share to buy EGL – this is a $1.9 billion offer. Last week, Apollo made a $ 40 per share offer to buy EGL. EGL CEO James Crane offered $ 38 per share at the same time. Now the problem is – the EGL board okayed the lower bid from Crane, which is why Apollo filed a suit against EGL.