Leading Australian express and logistics operator Toll Group has stepped up its internationalexpansion with the acquisition of US freight forwarder Summit Logistics International for A$80
million (€50 million), it was announced today.Summit, one of the leading independent US freight forwarding and supply chain businesses,generates annual revenue of around A$300 million (€190 million) and is a top five provider of oceanfreight services on one of the world’s key trade lanes, the trans-pacific route between GreaterChina and North America, Toll said in a statement.
The US firm is headquartered in New Jersey, and provides integrated trans-Pacific logisticsservices to its customers through its extensive operational platform in China, Hong Kong and theUSA. Summit also generates around 30% of its revenue providing extensive supply chain solutionsincluding transport and logistics services to its freight forwarding customers within the USA.
“We have been investigating US-based opportunities for some time and this is an importantacquisition for the group in the global forwarding market,” said Toll Group’s Managing Director,Paul Little. Toll said it is paying approximately A$80 million for Summit and expects theacquisition to improve its profits (EPS) in year one.
“The development of significant scale in the trans-Pacific trade lane is a key element ofdelivering price-competitive services to US-based customers. Importantly, integrating Summit intoToll Global Forwarding (TGF) also improves Toll’s total supply chain capability in the US market,”Little explained.
“The capability and positioning of Summit in the Greater China-US trade lane is highlyattractive to Toll. TGF is already a leader in the Asia-Australasia trade lane. This acquisitionpositions the division as a leading supplier of North Asia to North America logistics in the globalforwarding sector. With the Summit acquisition, TGF’s mix of international freight forwarding anddomestic US capabilities will enable the business to offer a more extensive domesticdeliver-to-customer capability, from China to all major city destinations in the USA,” Littleconcluded.
