Bruce Barnard, Special Correspondent | Feb 02, 2012 9:05AM EST
Kuehne + Nagel’s acquisition of specialized Australian freight forwarder Link Logistics International is the Swiss logistics giant’s latest expansion in the fast-growing global perishables transport sector.
Kuehne + Nagel didn’t say how much it is paying for privately owned Link Logistics, which is headquartered in Melbourne and has facilities in Sydney and Tasmania. Established in 1998, Link specializes in cold chain management, providing perishables products to hospitality and consumer markets, mainly in Asia and the Middle East.
Link, which employs 33 staff, is Australia’s biggest air freight forwarder of perishables exports.
“We consider the acquisition of Link Logistics to be a further strategic step for the global expansion of our perishables logistics operations,” said Tim Scharwath, executive vice president of air logistics at Kuehne + Nagel.
“It will help accelerate our growth in this business segment and besides Europe we can also even better serve our customers in the Asian and Middle East perishable segments. In addition, jointly we can strengthen our position in the Australian air freight market.”
-- Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.