Pallet Network sale ‘imminent’
Rumours are rife of a pallet network sale and point to one of the three independent market leaders. DfT report points to the sector’s effectiveness in moving goods.
A pallet network is about to be purchased by a major company, disclosed Paul Carvell, chief executive of Business Post last week. He told a Triangle express delivery conference that he had just heard that a sale was about to be announced. The sector was already rife with speculation, with a purchase price of around GBP30m being mentioned. That would point to one of the “big three” – Palletways, Pall-Ex or Palletline. And the pallets-as-parcels sector has been boosted by a report for the DfT, which indicates that the networks are far more efficient than, for example, supermarket distribution chains. That report went to the DfT ten days ago, industry sources say. Carvell did not reveal the name of the company to be bought and major players have denied it is them. Pall-Ex owner Hilary Devey was unavailable but executive director Steve Hayward says: “Hilary remains as focused on this business as ever and we’ll just get on with the job in hand and concentrate on growing market share. “Carvell’s a rascal. Just because he’s bought a pallet network he thinks everyone else is after one,” he quips. Palletline MD Glyn Jones says: “I have no inside track. Palletline is the least likely to be interested in selling, because of our ownership. Our members have no appetite for other than member ownership.” Palletways director Craig Hibbert says: “I don’t know; you can never say never.” Carvell also forecast that in ten years’ time there would be four major players in the parcels market and ten specialists. Possible bidders include Exel, DHL, TNT, and UPS. On pallets, Carvell said that mixing pallet and parcels networks does not work and Business Post has kept its pallets network separate. Customers, however, want access through one point of contact. He said the average number of parcels and pallets per consignment is still falling. Pallet networks are seeing 30percent gross income growth per year, he added.
