European express transportation and delivery provider Sovereign Speed is moving into theaerospace logistics market with the acquisition of a specialist delivery firm.
Hamburg-based Sovereign took over Activ Cars GmbH, based in Achim near Bremen, on July 1.Founded in the 1990s by Dieter Schewe, Activ Cars specialises in the transport of aircraft parts.
“With Activ Cars, we not only increase the variety of services offered towards our customers,but at the same time our multi-national team grows by another 80 colleagues. Our fleet benefitsfrom the addition of over 40 trucks, most of which are designed specifically for the requirementsof the aerospace industry, such as extra wide trailers for transporting wing sections and fuselageelements, for example,” said Karim El-Sayegh, CEO of Sovereign Group.
“I could not have wished for a better successor than the management of Sovereign. Due totheir huge experience in the transport of time-sensitive goods, as well their proven track recordand outstanding reputation in the industry, I was quickly convinced to put my business in the righthands,” Schewe added.
The transaction, the price of which the parties have agreed not to disclose, was structuredand largely financed by Commerzbank AG in Hamburg.
Sovereign, with 150 workers (before the acquisition) at nine sites in five countries and afleet of some 40 vehicles, is one of Europe’s leading providers of time-critical transportationsolutions for urgent goods.
The company specialises in overnight airport-to-airport and to-door transportation services fora broad range of parcel, express and logistics companies and operates a road network covering some50 destinations in 14 countries. In 2012 the company transported more than 27 million kgs of mailand express consignments over 7.7 million km of delivery routes.
