Acquisitions add muscle to SDV’s southern African operation

SDV International Logistics has strengthened its presence in the southern African region through the acquisition of logistics operator SAEL and road haulage major Whitehorse Carriers. It’s in line with the company’s objective of elevating its profile in the southern region, says regional managing director for South Africa, Philippe Deneve. When Deneve took over as MD at the end of 2006, his brief was to build the SDV brand into the powerful entity it has become on the rest of the continent – and in addition to organic growth, the acquisition of the necessary resources was seen as a prudent option. SDV took over Whitehorse Carriers in March and SAEL in July this year. “SDV has the most extensive integrated logistics network in Africa,” Deneve told FTW. “It has offices in 41 countries in Africa, it employs 20 000 permanent staff and invests more than ¤200m a year in the region. “We have always been very strong in West and Central Africa, and stronger in East Africa for several years, but South Africa was a much smaller operation. “My objective was to build the same network in South Africa – and we realised that it could not be achieved quickly through organic growth alone, which is why we chose the acquisition route.” Deneve is confident that the deals bring significant benefits to all parties. “SAEL specialises in seafreight, with a blue chip client base that includes the likes of Sasol, Arcelor Mittal, Mondi and the breweries. “SDV South Africa on the other hand specialises largely in project business, concentrating on overborder logistics, enabling SAEL to offer a door-to-door service in Africa while also leveraging our worldwide network.” The purchase of Whitehorse Carriers was a logical move, in Deneve’s view, given SDV’s involvement in the mining industry in Zambia and Congo. The copper supply chain is the speciality at Whitehorse Carriers whose offices are based in Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa. The company operates a fleet of more than 400 trucks. “It’s important for us to have access to a fleet of trucks, but it’s also good for Whitehorse which now has access to the SDV network all over the region.” Both SAEL and Whitehorse Carriers have retained their names and operate as separate entities from their current premises, and will continue to operate under their current management for the foreseeable future, said Deneve. He is confident that the building blocks are now in place to take advantage of developments in the southern region. Two years ago SDV SA’s staff comprised 80 people. Today it has 200 in addition to 180 at SAEL and 500 at Whitehorse Carriers. For the southern region (10 countries), its staff complement has grown from 1 500 to more than 3 200. “For the future we will continue to expand by organic growth,” Deneve told FTW. “We’re well placed for the expected growth in the region, particularly in light of the opening of new mines in different countries in 2009.” SDV is owned by the French BOLLORE group whose main activity is in international logistics, with two branches: Bolloré Africa Logistics for Africa and D A T for the other continents.