TFI International Inc., a Canadian trucker that has been growing through acquisitions, agreed to purchase Daseke Inc. for US$1.1 billion including debt.

TFI will pay $8.30 a share in cash for Daseke, a Texas-based operator with 4,900 large trucks and 11,000 flatbed and specialized trailers, according to a statement released Friday. That’s a premium of 69 per cent from the closing share price on Thursday.

Prior to the announcement of the deal, Daseke’s shares had fallen 48 per cent over the past two years amid a prolonged freight recession.

Daseke shares surged 66 per cent — the most since March of 2020 — to $8.12 as of 10:15 a.m. in New York. TFI rose 6 per cent to $172.32.

TFI said it will consider splitting into two publicly traded companies following the purchase of Daseke — one dedicated to long-haul trucking, known as truckload, and another with all its other trucking assets, including less-than-truckload.

TFI became a large less-than-truckload carrier after purchasing the trucking unit of United Parcel Service Inc. in 2021 for $800 million. It has been growing through such acquisitions, snapping up six trucking operations in 2023 alone prior to the Daseke deal, according to Bloomberg data.