News
Samskip and Kloosterboer: a new force in seafood logistics
On Sunday, 24 April, agreement was reached on a far-reaching form of co-operation between Samskip and the Dutch Kloosterboer Group whereby Samskip will acquire a number of coldstore companies that belong to Kloosterboer. This move will create one of Europe's leading specialists in reefer logistics for the seafood industry and together the companies intend to grow this sector of their business globally.
During the negotiations, Samskip was advised by the Corporate Finance Department of Fortis Bank.
The activities acquired by Samskip amount to about 30% of the Kloosterboer Group. The value of the transaction is to remain confidential.
Under the terms of the agreement, which has been approved by both boards of directors, Samskip will acquire:
- Kloosterboer Terminal, Kollafjordur, the Faeroe Islands
- Kloosterboer Terminal, Aalesund, Norway
- Kloosterboer Coldstores, Ijmuiden, Holland
- Part of Kloosterboer Coldstores, Rotterdam, Holland
- Kloosterboer Shipping, Ijmuiden
- The fish related activities of Kloosterboer International Forwarding, Rotterdam
- The fish related activities of Kloosterboer Services in Rotterdam.
Samskip companies expect to transport in excess of one million tons of frozen fish in the year 2005.
The Kloosterboer coldstores have a combined capacity of 85,000 tons, Ijmuiden, the largest, having a capacity of 40,000 tons, Norway 20,000 tons, Rotterdam 17,000 tons and the Faeroe Islands 7,000 tons. In addition, Samskip operates coldstorage and terminals in Iceland.
With this acquisition, the Reefer Logistics activities of Samskip now consist of the following:
- Kloosterboer coldstores, managed by Johan Kloosterboer
- Samskip Forwarding (worldwide forwarding, own office network in Europe, US, Russia and Asia), managed by Einar Þor Gudjonsson.
In addition, Samskip owns a 40% stake in Silver Sea, managed by Tormod Fossmark. This Norwegian company operates a fleet of 15 modern reefer vessels trading in the North Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic Sea markets.
Asbjorn Gislason, President of Samskip, commented on the deal:
"The combination of Samskip and Kloosterboer will strengthen our ability to offer a comprehensive global service to the seafood industry ranging from discharging fishing vessels and storage to transport and delivery across a wide area covering Scandinavia, Northern Europe, North America and Asia."
"By combining the expertise and creativity of both companies, we will continue to develop new logistics products that enable our customers to focus on their core activities."
Kloosterboer deals with about 220,000 tons of fish annually through its freezing companies at Kollafjord in the Faeroe Islands, Aalesund in Norway, Ijmuiden and Rotterdam in Holland. These activities will continue to be managed by Johan Kloosterboer and he is looking forward to the new opportunities the Samskip deal presents:
"We will be able to grow by being more involved with the shipping of the loads we store. The same applies to Samskip but in reverse. We have been holding discussions with Samskip for quite some time about working together and in this particular form we will actually be able to offer door to door services."
"During these negotiations we discovered we were very much on the same wave-length. We both wish to expand globally. We were already looking to develop further hubs in the Baltic States and with Samskip's connections, that will be much easier now."
This acquisition follows close on the heels of Samskip"s recent purchase of Geest North Sea Line. Like Geest, Kloosterboer is a family-owned company that also started life as a trader of vegetables in Holland. Combining the services of Samskip and Geest resulted in the creation of the largest shortsea container/intermodal operator in Western Europe.
With the acquisition of Geest came a one-third stake in Coolboxx, a joint venture with two major Dutch refrigerated truck operators that is developing the market within Europe for 45ft palletwide reefer containers able to transport 33 pallets by road, rail or sea.
The Kloosterboer Group
Kloosterboer was founded in 1925 as a trader in vegetables. Over the last decade Kloosterboer has added several services like stevedoring, forwarding and a customs service department.
Kloosterboer handles a vast variety of frozen and chilled products. Principals are located all over the world and Kloosterboer often serves as their principal contact point in Europe with regard to their logistical needs.
Warehousing, forwarding and stevedoring are the three main activities of Kloosterboer.
Coldstorage warehousing activities started in 1960 with a 3,000 cbm warehouse. Today 2 million cbm of storage capacity are provided at strategic locations in the Netherlands, Norway and the Faeroe Islands.
The forwarding services include all sea and land transport related activities and are carried out by Kloosterboer Shipping BV and Kloosterboer International Forwarding BV. Kloosterboer Shipping is the market leader in overseas reefer container transport for Northwest Europe. Kloosterboer International Forwarding acts as an international forwarding agent in the port of Rotterdam. These services are usually carried out in combination with coldstorage and/or stevedoring and customs services.
Kloosterboer started its stevedoring activities in 1981. The annual number of containers handled has been growing ever since. In 2004, Kloosterboer handled 1.8 million tons of food and food related products from more than 1,000 ships with breakbulk cargo and a growing number of containers. Loading and unloading takes place alongside coldstores in Vlissingen, Ijmuiden, Rotterdam and Aalesund in Norway. On average some 100 skilled employees are working in this particular sector.
