Cards purchases Texas hauler in third acquisition of year

Cards Holdings Inc., an independent waste, recycling and temporary service provider serving the Mid-South, has announced its acquisition of Barnes Waste Disposal, a residential waste hauler based in Princeton, Texas.

Barnes provides collection, hauling and disposal services to commercial, residential and municipal customers in Collin, Hunt, Dallas and Rockwell counties. The acquisition is effective immediately. No financial terms were disclosed.

Norman Barnes founded Barnes Waste Disposal nearly 20 years ago with a strategy to outperform and out-service his competition. Currently, Barnes has 16 employees, almost 8,000 subscription residential customers, 17 trucks and serves three municipalities.

“We are grateful to take over what Norman has built and expand the company’s presence while continuing to provide premium service to our customers. We want to ensure our new employees and customers are strategically integrated. Our intentions are to merge the business through our integrations team and the assistance of Jada Graff, [the] current Barnes Waste Disposal general manager. We owe it to Norman and our customers to ensure a smooth transition” says Cards CEO Dan Christensen.

Jada Graff, daughter of Norman Barnes, will continue employment with Cards, running day-to-day operations and leading integration, sales, marketing and business development efforts. Jada will add value and experience to the existing Cards leadership team, the company says.

This marks Cards' third acquisition in the past six weeks. According to the company, the Barnes acquisition densifies Cards’ existing footprint in the east Dallas market and moves the company closer to strategic growth opportunities. This transaction also provided immediate routing overlay in subscription residential and commercial services.

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“We continue to seek tuck-in acquisitions that offer instant synergies within our service footprint but also open us to new markets. This acquisition expands our capabilities in east Texas, a key and growing market. Not only does this provide immense value but progress in a market we believe in,” says Dustin Reynolds, chief revenue officer for Cards.  

Owner and industry expert Norman Barnes endorsed the decision to sell the business to Cards, stating: “Throughout this transaction, it was clear Cards puts its employees and customers first. I look forward to Cards’ continued success and seeing what my daughter can accomplish with the firepower Cards can offer.”

Cards, based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, continues to look for acquisitions across the solid waste value chain including hauling, transfer and landfill assets.

Following its acquisition by Kinderhook Industries LLC in March, Cards has quickly upped its merger and acquisition pace. In April alone, the company made two acquisitions: Whittinghill Disposal Services in Muskogee, Oklahoma; and Johns Refuse LLC in Chelsea, Oklahoma.

“The market dynamics of the Mid-South region are incredibly appealing. Cards’ core geography is experiencing strong population growth driven by increased commercial and industrial production,” said Sam Keenan, a principal at Kinderhook, in a release announcing the firm’s acquisition of Cards. “We plan to hit the ground running and anticipate rapidly deploying capital ... to grow the team and invest in collection and postcollection infrastructure.”