GAC boosts presence in the Baltic Sea region with acquisition of leading Finnish ship agency

1 September 2010 - The GAC Group has strengthened its Baltic Sea region coverage with the amicable acquisition of leading Finnish ship agent, John Nurminen Navis Oy (JNN).

JNN is the leading ship agency in Finland and a subsidiary of the John Nurminen Group, handling annually up to 3,000 ship calls at all major Finnish commercial seaports, directly through its own offices, in Helsinki (head office), Porvoo, Kotka, Turku, Naantali and Rauma and the company’s comprehensive network of sub-agencies.

Under the agreement signed on 31 August 2010 by Lars Säfverström, GAC Group President and Jan Lönnblad, Managing Director of John Nurminen Oy, the company is now rebranded as GAC- Nurminen Navis Oy.

Baltic development
Erland Ebbersten, GAC Group Vice President – Europe, Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Sea, and Africa, says JNN’s standing in the local market and strong client-base of major international and domestic shipping and chartering principals made it an ideal candidate for acquisition to help drive GAC’s development strategy in the Baltic Sea region.

“JNN is strongly represented in key sectors such as oil tankers, chemical carriers, dry bulk, and cruise ships,” he adds. “These are all areas where GAC is strong globally, so this acquisition makes perfect sense to help us continue to thrive in the long term.”

History
John Nurminen Oy was established in Rauma in 1886 and its diverse business interests span currently from fine art logistics services, nautical charts sales, property development, ship agency services in Finland, and cleantech venture capital investing. Its ship agency arm JNN is one of the top three ship agencies in Finland in terms of market share.

Greater benefits
Jan Lönnblad believes that this latest milestone in JNN’s history will offer even greater benefits for its customers and staff: “From John Nurminen’s point of view, it made good business sense to join JNN with GAC, based on the Group’s global reach, financial strength and international reputation. By combining our rich legacy of shipping services and local ship agency expertise and experience with GAC’s global strength and resources, we can offer even more to our existing and potential clients.”

Lars Säfverström adds that the two companies share the same corporate values: “GAC and JNN have much in common, making this new partnership a great match. That compatibility will be vital in facilitating the smooth integration of this icon of the Finnish shipping community into the GAC global network - to the benefit of all our customers.”

Management team
GAC-Nurminen Navis Oy’s management team consists of Svante Eriksson (Managing Director), Jyrki Lehti (Regional Manager, West Coast operations) and Ilkka Holmroos (Regional Manager, East Coast operations).

Svante Eriksson is looking forward to capturing synergic benefits of the acquisition to the company´s client-base and also to bringing additional value to the GAC ship agency community: “GAC’s acquisition of JNN will certainly strengthen our position as the leading ship agency service provider in Finland, and opens up interesting possibilities for the future services we can offer our current and prospective clients. I also believe, in addition to our known brand and highly professional team of agents and backoffice personnel, that our principal focused customized IT-solutions will be of great value to the GAC ship agency community in general.”

Expanding presence
The addition of Finland to the GAC network boosts the Group’s growing presence also in the Nordic region, which has steadily grown since its majority stake acquisition of Ole R Olsen in Norway in 2007, followed by an alliance formed with Pole Position AS in Spitsbergen last year and the opening of new offices in Bergen and Sandnessjoen during 2010.

That strong presence in the region enables GAC to meet a growing range of client needs, particularly those in the oil and gas sector where the search for new sources is continuing to progress further north.

About GAC Group
GAC is a global provider of shipping, logistics and marine services. These services are constantly being refined and integrated to serve our customers’ increasing need for competitive solutions. Emphasising trust, reliability and a strong human touch, GAC has been building its reputation in its chosen markets since 1956.

Headquartered in Dubai, GAC employs over 9,000 people in more than 300 offices worldwide.

About GAC Logistics
GAC Logistics serves the worldwide needs of manufacturers, distributors and retailers with particular emphasis on the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), textiles, pharmaceuticals, automotive parts, electronics, entertainment and oil & gas sectors. It delivers a complete range of supply chain and logistics solutions, including air and sea freight, warehousing and distribution, road transportation, project logistics, ship spares logistics, international moving and courier services. GAC Logistics, GAC Shipping and GAC Marine combine their expertise to provide a world-leading ship spares delivery service offered through GAC Marine Logistics.

For more information about GAC, visit www.gac.com