Raben Group announced acquaisition of Wincanton

Raben Group has announced the acquisition of Wincanton's German Road Network activities and businesses in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, subject to conditions.

The acquisition is an important step towards Raben Group’s vision of achieving leadership positions in all of its chosen markets. Wincanton’s operations will build on Raben’s existing customer portfolio with more leading names from the automotive, consumer goods and industrial sectors.

The Wincanton businesses in Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia provide both in-country contract logistics solutions and operate regional transport contracts across the Central and Eastern European countries. The biggest part of the transaction – the German Road Network – operates from 16 depots and primarily offers domestic and international groupage services.
In Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Poland and Slovakia Wincanton generated a turnover of approximately €373m for the year ended 31 March 2011 and operates from 56 depots and offices across all these countries. It employs approximately 2 550 people, who will transfer to Raben Group on completion of the sale.

Commenting on the acquisition, Ewald Raben, CEO of Raben Group said: “Germany and Central Europe are key markets for Raben Group. Through this acquisition, we believe that we further improve our market presence and add value to our customer relationships. Additionally our partner distribution networks, like System Alliance Germany, will gain the opportunity of stabilising and increasing their service capacities. We are sure that thanks to adding Wincanton’s operations across these five countries we will significantly improve our position in the European markets and that these will provide a perfect fit with Raben Group.”

Eric Born, Chief Executive, Wincanton, commented:

“This sale follows a strategic review of our business and the decision to exit the sub- scale businesses in CEE and to dispose of our German Road Network. This will enable us to focus on our German intermodal and contract logistics activities.”

“I would like to personally thank our teams who will be joining Raben for their hard work and contribution to Wincanton over the years.”

The transaction is anticipated to be completed within two to three months from today subject to fulfilment of transaction-related statutory information and consultation obligations with employee representatives and competition clearances.