WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA — James Richardson & Sons, Ltd. acquired 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Bison Transport Inc. and its affiliated companies, effective Jan 1.

Bison, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is one of Canada’s largest trucking companies with more than 3,700 employees and contractors operating a fleet of 2,100 tractors and 6,000 trailers throughout North America.

Financial details of the transaction will not be made public.

Together with its affiliated companies, H.O. Wolding, Searcy Trucking and Britton Transport, Bison services a wide variety of multinational, national and local customers.

“We are excited about the opportunity to acquire Bison, which has an outstanding reputation for customer service, dependability, employee relations and safety built over the past 51 years,” said Hartley T. Richardson, president and chief executive officer of James Richardson & Sons, Ltd. “We have been a longtime admirer of Bison Transport and we are very thankful to the Jessiman family for entrusting the future ownership of Bison to our family. Bison and JRSL share many of the same values and we are pleased that Bison's senior management team has committed to continue to lead Bison and ensure that it continues to adhere to the same principles and standards of excellence and safety as it has under the ownership of Wescan and the Jessiman family.”

Peter Jessiman, president and CEO of the Jessiman family’s holding company, Wescan, said that “Bison and its employees have been like members of our family since my father established the company in 1969. So while we have mixed emotions, we are thrilled that we have found a buyer for Bison that shares our values of excellence and that cares for our employees and customers as much as we have over the past 51 years. I have no doubt whatsoever that Bison will continue to enjoy tremendous success in the future as part of the JRSL family.”

The transfer of ownership from Wescan to JRSL will not result in any changes to Bison’s operations, nor to the well-respected “Bison” brand. Bison will continue to be headquartered in Winnipeg.