Continuing to operate as independent business unit
IN A deal worth an initial R15-million, privately owned clearing and forwarding company ZA Trans has been acquired by Barloworld Logistics, the integrated logistics company in the Barloworld group.
The initial sum will be augmented by a final payment which will depend on ZA Trans’s financial performance to May 2005.
ZA Trans will continue to operate under its own brand, and will act as an independent business unit within Barloworld Logistics.
“We believe that we can add much value to Barloworld Logistics’ operations through our skills, networks and experience,” says ZA Trans MD Warren Erfmann. “We’re also looking forward to the new opportunities that will arise from exposure to the full range of supply chain and logistics management activities and capabilities offered by our new home,” he said.
ZA Trans has been in operation for ten years, and employs over 140 people in offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. A Port Elizabeth office will open next month. The company’s current revenues exceed R50 million.
The acquisition, which has already been approved by the Competition Board, grows Barloworld Logistics to an integrated logistics management company of over 1000 people, with current revenues exceeding R500 million.
Paul Stuiver, Barloworld Logistics CEO, comments: “The acquisition adds many new business opportunities which fit with the growth strategy for Barloworld Logistics. ZA Trans is ideally positioned to benefit from increased import/export activity in southern Africa, and Barloworld Logistics can now offer its customers direct access to the worldwide market and suppliers.”