Texas-based Daseke Inc., a holding company for several trucking firms across the nation, has acquired Central Oregon Truck Co., of Redmond, the companies announced Wednesday.

The deal has been in the works for four months, said Cale Pearson, president of Central Oregon Truck Co., and was finalized Thursday.

“(There will) be changes, but nothing major. We’re not leaving … We’re definitely staying in Redmond,” Pearson said.

The company has been in operation since 1992 and employs 260 in Redmond. It considered moving to Reno a couple of years ago, but the state and City of Redmond helped persuade Central Oregon Truck Co. to stay in the region by adding a deceleration lane on Highway 97. And in December, Central Oregon Truck Co. moved into a new 28,000-square-foot facility on Northeast Hemlock Avenue along U.S. Highway 97, which allowed it to consolidate its Terrebonne and Prineville locations.

“They approached us,” Pearson said, referring to Daseke. “I think the industry is going to go through a period of consolidation, people merging together to gain market share. We’re coming out of the recession and (companies like Daseke) are looking for good companies that were able to make it through.”

Central Oregon Truck has joined South Carolina-based J. Grady Randolph Inc., which Daseke acquired in May, as well as Washington-based Smokey Point Distributing and E.W. Wylie Corp. in North Dakota, according to Daseke.

“They’re buying up different trucking companies and letting them operate independently,” Pearson said. “It really forms a peer group and roundtables that will help us grow and learn from each other.”

Being under parent company Daseke will open up markets for capital and additional resources for Central Oregon Truck Co., he said. “Between the companies, we’re going to have a lot of experience in the industry, and we’re able to draw from that and lessen the learning curve,” Pearson said.