Seeking to build what it calls greater resiliency in the air network supporting its US operations, DHL has acquired a 49% minority equity interest and 24.9% voting interest in ASTAR Air Cargo. At the same time, the express delivery provider extended an Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (ACMI) contract with ASTAR through 2019. The ACMI contract has been in place since 2003.
ASTAR has its flight operations in its Wilmington, OH hub with gateways in New York, Los Angeles and Miami. With 44 aircraft, its customer base is in the US, Europe and the Middle East. DHL has been beefing up its air network, with an investment in Polar Air Cargo, Inc. and orders for six Boeing 767-300ER freighters that will be used for moving cargo between the US and Europe.
Intermodal and shipping solution provider, Hub Group will be acquiring Interdom Partners, a privately held non-asset based intermodal marketing company. Interdom specializes in serving domestic and international shippers with 20- and 40-foot container services. It owns and operates two non-asset based drayage companies, located Los Angeles and Chicago. The business garnered $90 million in revenues last year.
“Interdom is a leading provider of third party international services,” notes David Yeager, CEO of Hub, “and the acquisition will provide us with an entry into this growing market. Interdom also operates a sizable domestic reload business. We plan to combine our domestic reload business with Interdom's to create what we believe will be the largest player in this market.”
A majority stake in RMI has been acquired by The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm. RMI's customers include short-line, regional, Class I and terminal switching railroads, railcar leasing companies, rail shippers and barge operators. The company provides them with mission-critical, integrated services that help manage operations that include transportation, equipment, freight and revenue management.
“RMI has a reputation for being fair, reliable and honest,” claims Charlie Moore, managing director of Carlyle. “The company has partnered closely with and listened to its customers to create leading solutions. We will help maintain and build that great reputation.” RMI's internal operating structure won't change and its entire executive management team will remain.
Singapore-based Cougar Logistics Corp. Ltd. is being purchased by Menlo Worldwide, LLC of San Mateo, CA. Included in the acquisition is Cougar's primary subsidiary, Cougar Express Logistics. Cougar Express is a leading Southeast Asia freight forwarding, warehousing, logistics and distribution management company. It has personnel, facilities and operations in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. In all it has 200 Asian and global customers that is serves from 12 operating locations in the region.
For Menlo, among other strategic benefits it will enjoy from the acquisition are expanded capabilities in automotives. Cougar facilitates transfer of imports from the port in Singapore to distributor centers throughout the country. In addition to extensive storage space for customs bonding, Cougar services to the vertical include such inventory control, maintenance and yard management.
How appropriate—Icelandic company, Eimskip (HF Eimskipafelag Islands) grows its temperature controlled transportation and warehousing presence through acquisition of Versacold, with executive offices in Canada, and Nottingham UK-based Innovate Holdings. Versacold is a leading public refrigerated warehousing company with 72 facilities in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. Through its global presence, it has 290 million cubic feet of storage space for food processors, wholesale and retail distributors. It also provides fully integrated refrigerated distribution services.
With 30 warehouses in 11 locations throughout the country, Innovate Holdings is one of the largest resource providers in the UK. Previously Eimskip had a 55% share in the company. For its part, Eimskip is one of the largest companies in Iceland and operates from 200 locations throughout the world in more than 30 countries. It owns or operates 50 vessels, 100 cold storage facilities, 25 wide body cargo aircraft and 2,000 trucks and trailers.
The Clark Group, Inc. is a supplier of mission-critical supply chain solutions to the print media. It is being acquired by Global Logistics Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded acquisition corporation focused only on acquiring privately held transportation and logistics companies. “Clark's operating expertise and loyal base of customers afford us a tremendous opportunity to expand into new geographic markets, industry verticals and add complementary services,” claims Jim Martell, Global Logistics chairman.
Current Clark management will remain, with the company's Tim Teagan becoming CEO. He sees the acquisition as providing an expanded capital base as well as the ability to draw on the experienced team of Global Logistics executives.”We look forward to moving more aggressively into new markets, growing our customer base and adding service offerings to take advantage of our existing service platform,” he commented.
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) has merged with the Capital Cargo Crewmembers Association (CCCA). “This is a milestone for every pilot and flight engineer in our membership,” claims Cap. Christopher “CJ” Johnson, CCCA president. “Joining an international union gives our members access to immense resources that we could never realize had we remained independent.” Capital Cargo is an ACMI carrier that provides airport to airport transportation services domestically and internationally.
For its part, ALPA president John Prater says, “We are another step closer to achieving our goal of bringing all pilot groups together so that professional pilots and crewmembers speak with a strong, single voice in contract negotiations, legislative affairs and safety issues.” With the merger, ALPA now represents more than 60,000 pilots and crewmembers at 41 airlines in the US and Canada.
