Brad Jacobs leads $1 billion investment in CKX Lands

Transportation entrepreneur Brad Jacobs is leading a $1 billion investment into land management company CKX Lands, his team announced Nov. 9. Jacobs Private Equity II is investing $900 million into the plan, while minority co-investors are putting in $100 million. Jacobs is set to gain a majority stake in the company and will become its chairman and CEO. Jacobs has founded and led several major transportation and logistics companies in the past 15 years, including less-than-truckload carrier XPO and its spinoffs, contract logistics provider GXO and freight brokerage RXO. In October, C.H. Robinson announced an agreement to acquire RXO in a deal valued at $5.8 billion. Most recently, Jacobs launched building products distributor QXO in 2023. “I love building multibillion-dollar market leaders, and this $1 billion investment marks the launch of my ninth company,” Jacobs said. “After concluding my chairmanships of XPO, GXO and RXO last year, I now have the capacity to create this new venture while continuing to lead QXO to its massive potential.” Jacobs and his teams have completed approximately 500 merger and acquisition transactions. This comes as part of his overall strategy aimed at driving shareholder value, which involves attracting talent, operational improvements, technology and scaling the business through a combination of mergers and acquisitions and organic growth. CKX is a land management company focused on mineral leases, timber and surface land leasing that was originally incorporated in 1930. XPO ranks No. 5 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America. GXO and RXO rank Nos. 3 and 11,…

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