Aramex buys New Zealand-based Fastway Couriers

Aramex has bought New Zealand-based Fastway Couriers. The deal is Aramex’s second acquisition in the Asia-Pacific region to date and involves a 100% buyout of the company’s business in New Zealand and Australia for NZD$125.277m.

Established in New Zealand in 1983, Fastway Couriers’ global network includes 63 regional depots and 1,500 courier franchisees across Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Northern Ireland and South Africa. The company transports 16 million parcels globally to 75,000 customers each year.

A company spokesperson confirmed to Post&Parcel that this deal is exclusive to just Fastway in Australia and New Zealand- it does not include the business in Ireland or South Africa.

Commenting on the acquisition, Hussein Hachem, Chief Executive Officer of Aramex said: “We are excited to add Fastway Couriers to Aramex’s global network. The company has a strongly performing business, a well-recognised brand, a leadership position in the Asia-Pacific market, an excellent management team and large global customer base.

“Following our recent deals in Thailand and Australia last year, acquiring Fastway Couriers is the next logical, strategic move for us.

“Having scalable synergies with our own infrastructure and extending our reach across the region, the acquisition now makes us present in New Zealand for the first time and strengthens our existing operations in Australia.

Aramex Asia’s Chief Executive Officer Othman Aljeda added: “This deal gives us significant opportunities to expand our e-commerce proposition and take advantage of the increasing demand for online shopping delivery solutions and small parcel delivery services in the Asia-Pacific.

“New Zealand and Australia are two of the most rapidly growing e-commerce markets in the region and by acquiring Fastway Couriers we can now serve more businesses and consumers shopping online. Extending our operations to New Zealand and enhancing our existing business in Australia also strengthens our wider Aramex global network.”

Aramex said that the Fastway Couriers franchisee model makes it a “strong fit” for Aramex’s own “asset-light” business model.

“The firm contracts independent couriers franchisees who use their own vehicles for pickup and delivery,” explained Aramex. “This results in increased efficiency, extended reach across the countries it operates in and on-time delivery at the lowest possible cost to the customer.”