Agro Merchants Group has acquired Poland Services Transport-Logistyka (PTSL). The deal represents a significant entry for Agro into a new market and expands its geographic reach and service offerings throughout Europe.
The PTSL management team, led by industry leaders Slawomir and Krzysztof Samonek and Bart Mol, will continue to lead the current business and planned expansion initiatives.
Established in 2007 as a transport service provider, PSTL quickly expanded into freight forwarding and customs clearance services, and in 2015 built a state-of-the-art 58,000 m3 frozen warehouse that is located less than 1km from the Gdańsk DCT terminal.
The Port of Gdańsk is currently the fastest growing deep-sea terminal in Europe, and a major international logistics hub that serves as key gateway for trade between the largest ports in Europe, Middle East & Africa. Gdańsk benefits from excellent road access to Central and Eastern Europe, and a recent expansion doubled the Port’s container handling capacity.
PSTL specialises in storage, value-added services and logistics of frozen meat, poultry, seafood and other goods such as frozen fruit, vegetables and dairy products.
PSTL manages the movement of its customers’ products through the supply chain. This includes transportation using owned fleet assets, or strategic subcontractors, freight forwarding, customs clearance, along with complete export documentation and cargo insurance.
“This acquisition reflects Agro’s commitment to grow our footprint in core import/export markets,” said Jan Harthoorn, Agro’s vice president of strategic development for Europe.
“PSTL is a great fit for us in terms of culture, customer-focus and value-added services, plus we’re adding a top-class management team. Poland and Eastern Europe are very important geographies for Agro, and this acquisition allows us to expand significantly our presence and services into this key market.”
Sławomir Samonek, Managing Director of PSTL, said: “We believe in the great potential of the Polish market. Our company is young and combined with previous experiences and the Agro team, this is a great step for us to grow further with our customers and offer end-to-end solutions.
“We have seen the Port of Gdansk expand immensely and we look forward to also expanding locally, nationally and internationally as part of the AGRO Merchants network.”
Agro’s acquisition of PTSL fits into a broader investment strategy focused on key European trading hubs.
In January 2017, the company celebrated the opening of a new 18,000-pallet-space facility in Rotterdam-Maasvlakte. This was followed up in February with the acquisitions of Frissul and Frigomato, which together are the leading coldstorage operator in Portugal and a key part of the Iberian food supply chain.
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