Bruce Barnard, Special Correspondent | Sep 21, 2012 9:40AM EDT
Japanese shipowner NYK Line has acquired a 51 percent controlling stake in the logistics operations of Russia’s Rolf Group, which will retain 49 percent of the new joint venture.
NYK said the joint venture will involve all Rolf’s logistics business, including a terminal in Lobyna, 17 miles north of Moscow, the Elite-Trans customs and technical service center in St. Petersburg, an auto assembly and shipping facility in the Far Eastern port of Zarubino and an insurance agency.
The joint venture will also use a rail terminal in Naberezhnye Chelny, a town on the Kama river in the republic of Tatarstan that is home to the Kamaz and ZMA truck plants, and the Petrolesport terminal in the Port of St. Petersburg, the major import center for Russian auto imports
The companies agreed to maintain the Rolf SCS brand because it has a strong image in the Russian logistics market.
NYK didn’t disclose financial details of the deal, which marks a further opening of the Russian transport market to foreign investors.
Russian Railways entered exclusive negotiations this week to acquire 75 percent of Gefco, the logistics unit of French carmaker Peugeot-Citroen for around $1 billion. Earlier, APM Terminals, the port operating arm of Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk, paid $860 million for a 37.5 percent stake in Global Ports, Russia’s largest container stevedore with a 30 percent market share.
Rolf, which began operations in 2001, has a fleet of 280 owned and 300 third-party trucks.
NYK’s fleet of 838 ships includes 121 car carriers and 148 container vessels.
Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.
