Wincanton acquires control of intermodal company
UK logistics company Wincanton has extended its European intermodal services following the acquisition of a further stake in Rhine barge operator, Rhinecontainer. The acquisition has been made through its Rhenania subsidiary which it acquired when it purchased P&O Trans European earlier in the year. The transaction increases its holding in the company to 74.2% with the remainder being owned by Swiss company Kuehne & Nagel.
At the time of the acquisition of P&O Trans European it was not clear whether Wincanton would be interested in retaining the non-contract logistics element of its business. There are obvious questions as to the merit of continuing to operate non-core activities, especially given the challenging market environment and the low margins involved in Germany’s intermodal market. However this move gives it control of the market leader in the Rhine container market with an annual volume of 300,000 teu and an estimated share of 24%. The company believes that the market will become increasingly important to the movement of goods from the key European industrial centres and its Rhenania subsidiary operates six terminals in the region.
The other point of strategic interest is that the acquisition will reinforce its nascent relationship with Kuehne & Nagel in what has effectively become a new joint venture. In 2002 Wincanton announced the establishment of KNW, a joint venture with K&N which supports the global supply chains of UK retailers which source goods from overseas. Given that both companies operations seem highly complementary to each other, further partnershipping should not be ruled out.
