Ivan Clark ... expanding freight logistics
Peter Krafft ... 25% share
Alan Peat
THERE'S BEEN a monstrous turnaround in the Grincor (Grindrod Unicorn Group) involvement in forwarding with the purchase of 75% of Rohlig Perishable Cargo Agents.
Some months ago Grincor sold a 42.5% stake in the Grindrod forwarding outfit to Rohlig - and created Rohlig Grindrod.
But, with the purchase of the new entity, Grincor has acquired an outfit with an annual turnover in perishable exports of close to R170-million.
Add on the Rohlig Airfreight contribution, and you have a combined force which controls over 25% of SA's total IATA (International Air Transport Association) airfreight export turnover.
With the sea and land forwarding interests in the group, this all puts Grincor solidly back into the top five in the SA forwarding agents league.
The deal was effective from January 1 - with Grincor purchasing its stake from Rohlig & Co, the German multinational. The remaining 25% is held by Peter Krafft - m.d. of both Rohlig Grindrod and Rohlig PCA.
According to Grincor m.d. Ivan Clark, the deal should provide synergies with his group's multi-modal transport and forwarding interests.
"This acquisition follows our strategy of expanding into the freight logistics arena," he said.
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The reasoning behind the deal, Clark added, was that PCA "added no value for Thomas Herwig" - major shareholder in Rohlig.
"Because Rohlig were getting no other international business from PCA, it was not unnatural that we'd go in with Peter Krafft in buying it.
"And it's really taking us up in the league."
Rohlig is an "extremely amicable partner", Clark told FTW.
This, he added, is indicated in the fact that Rohlig PCA will not change its name - despite its new owners. Nor does he have any intention of changing the current shareholding in Rohlig Grindrod which reads 42.5% for each of the named partners, and 15% in the hands of Krafft.
"They've really been first class partners," said Clark, "and we don't get bullied."
