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Peer Fund / Dealmaker·Freight & 3PL

Kelly Lineberger

Partner, Origination and Capital Markets at Ridgemont Equity Partners

Charlotte, North Carolina

KL
Why they matter

Ridgemont's origination and capital markets partner has personally led back-to-back freight brokerage and 3PL platform deals (SEKO, eShipping), making her a direct line into Ridgemont's logistics deal flow and financing relationships.

Background

Kelly Lineberger is a Partner at Ridgemont Equity Partners, a Charlotte-based middle-market private equity firm, where she leads origination and capital markets activity. She joined Ridgemont's predecessor firm in 2010 after working as an associate at Sterling Capital Management, and was promoted to Partner in January 2022 after helping the firm raise roughly $7 billion in equity capital since its spinout. She holds a B.A. in economics and sociology from Davidson College, where she played collegiate field hockey.

Notable deals

  • 2021
    Led Ridgemont's majority recapitalization of SEKO Logistics, a global 120-office, 40-country third-party logistics provider, alongside Greenbriar Equity Group
  • 2021
    Led Ridgemont's recapitalization of eShipping, a Kansas City-based tech-enabled managed transportation and freight brokerage platform, alongside founder Chad Earwood
  • 2026
    Sourced and led Ridgemont and Coogee Bay Partners' acquisition of Caring Transitions, a 300+ location senior move management and CTBids estate-sale franchise network

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Partner, Origination & Capital Markets at Ridgemont Equity Partners (Charlotte, NC middle-market PE, ~$5.5B+ invested since 1993)
  • With Ridgemont/predecessor since 2010; promoted to Partner Jan 2022 as part of a broader senior-leadership expansion
  • Davidson College (economics & sociology); prior stop at Sterling Capital Management

Current focus

  • Owns deal sourcing plus relationships with intermediaries, financing sources, and transaction partners — she is often the first Ridgemont contact on new deals, not just an execution partner
  • Track record spans tech-enabled logistics/3PL (SEKO Logistics, eShipping) and, most recently, healthcare-adjacent consumer services (Caring Transitions, July 2026)

What she cares about

  • Explicitly favors "tech-enabled" and asset-light models layered onto structural demand shifts (e-commerce pressure on carriers/shippers for 3PL; aging demographics for Caring Transitions)
  • Values repeat-founder/management relationships — she cited an existing relationship with Caring Transitions' execs dating to 2018 as a reason for that deal

Recent moves

  • July 2026: Caring Transitions acquisition (with Coogee Bay Partners) — active mandate, likely still building out the platform
  • Part of a wave of female senior-leadership hires/promotions at Ridgemont over the past two years

Potential sensitivities

  • Financial terms on all three deals above are undisclosed — don't press for specifics on entry multiples/structure in a first call
  • She's origination-focused, not a sector operating partner — sharpest on deal thesis and financing, less useful for granular ops questions

Questions to ask

  1. What is Ridgemont's current appetite and check size for freight brokerage/3PL platforms following SEKO and eShipping — is this still an active thesis?
  2. Who are Ridgemont's go-to financing partners (e.g., Crescent, Barings, Apogem) for logistics deals, and would she make an introduction?
  3. What did she learn from the eShipping/SEKO holds that would change how she'd underwrite a new freight brokerage platform today?

Outreach draft

Subject
Freight brokerage deal flow — quick intro?
Hi Kelly, I've been following Ridgemont's work in tech-enabled logistics — the SEKO Logistics and eShipping recapitalizations in particular — and wanted to reach out given your focus on origination and capital markets. We're doing active diligence on the freight brokerage and 3PL space and would value your read on where the market is heading, especially given how much has shifted in carrier/shipper dynamics since those deals closed. Would you be open to a 20-minute call in the next couple of weeks to compare notes on deal flow and financing conditions in the sector? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

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