Cross Country moves into Grindrod stable

ALAN PEAT
THE SOUTHERN Africa container road and rail transport company, Cross Country Containers (CCC), has just been taken over for an undisclosed sum by the Grindrod group from Maersk Line. The speculation that Maersk’s release of the ownership was because it duplicated other subsidiaries’ functions within the Maersk/Safmarine operations, was confirmed by Maersk SA MD, Flemming Dalgaard. “We acquired CCC as part of our takeover of P&O Nedlloyd,” he told FTW. “Given our current resources in road transport we decided to accept Grindrod’s offer.” But on the other side of the fence, CCC certainly furthers Grindrod’s strategy of expanding the group’s business base into landbased operations, according to the group director, Laurence Stuart-Hill. “We continue to seek good investment opportunities that link the services required to move cargo from A to Z,” he said, “providing our customer base with a one-stop solution in the movement of freight.” He said the acquisition of CCC added a further dimension to Grindrod’s aim of providing an integrated service for the movement of freight by containers. Although too early to talk specifics, Stuart-Hill told FTW: “We will both have to integrate it into our operations, and at the same time, to extend the CCC service offerings.” This takeover can be expected to add muscle to the road and rail cargo movement activities at CCC, according to MD Richard Foulds.