Spotlight: Circle International to Acquire Freight Business

Circle International Group, a San Francisco-based importer-exporter, agreed to acquire Alrod International Inc. in a stock swap in a bid to boost its West Coast freight business. Alrod, a privately owned shipper specializing in high-tech goods, had revenue of $82 million in fiscal 1997. Alrod has 250 employees and facilities in California, Texas and Mexico. Specific terms of the transaction, which will be accounted for as a pooling of interests, weren’t immediately disclosed. Circle has 340 offices worldwide.