AGRO Merchants Group announced the purchase of Poland Services Transport Logistyka (PTSL) on July 3. The acquisition heralds a significant entry for the international cold storage and logistics solutions provider into a new market and expands its geographic reach and service offerings throughout Europe.
The PTSL management team, led by 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 cubic meter frozen warehouse situated less than a kilometer from the Gdańsk DCT terminal. The Port of Gdańsk, reportedly the fastest growing deep-sea terminal in Europe, is a major international logistics hub that acts as key gateway for trade between Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Gdańsk benefits from convenient road access to Central and Eastern Europe, and a recent expansion doubled the port’s container handling capacity.
Internationally known for service quality and commodity expertise in handling protein products for export, PATL specializes in storage, value-added services and logistics of frozen meat, poultry, seafood and other goods including frozen fruit, vegetables and dairy foods. The company manages the movement of its customers’ products throughout the supply chain. This includes transportation using owned fleet assets, or strategic subcontractors, freight forwarding and customs clearance, along with complete export documentation and cargo insurance implementation.
“This acquisition reflects a 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, commented: “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 of 2017, the company celebrated the opening of a new 18,000-pallet-space facility in the Netherlands at Rotterdam-Maasvlakte. This was followed up in February with the acquisitions of Frissul and Frigomato, which together are the leading cold storage operator in Portugal and a key part of the Iberian food supply chain.
About AGRO Merchants
Alpharetta, Georgia, USA-headquartered AGRO Merchants Group owns and operates 61 temperature-controlled warehouse and distribution facilities providing 6.3 million cubic meters of space in 11 countries in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
Founded in 2013, the company’s services include freight forwarding and transportation (ship, rail, truck, and air) to serve ports, distribution hubs and production locations. It operates refrigerated trucks (over-the-road and port-drayage) as well as offers various on-demand non-asset based transportation management services.
In addition, AGRO Merchants provides packaging and value added services, such as import and export product inspections and testing, tempering and blast freezing, further processing, repacking and bagging, store-ready labeling, case picking, seal verification, quality inspection, pet food processing and plate freezing.
