Rhenus Successfully Completes Acquisition of the European Business Operations at Wincanton

Rhenus received the approval of the European Commission to acquire the German and French business operations of the Wincanton Group on 22 December 2011. The agreement signed by the Rhenus Group on 14 August 2011 to take over the continental European business of the Wincanton Holding Company and its subsidiaries therefore comes into effect backdated to 1 July 2011. A majority of the shareholders of Wincanton plc had already approved the sale of the European activities to Rhenus on 21 November 2011.

Following the signing of the agreement in August, Rhenus successfully spent the intervening period completing the necessary registration and authorization procedures with the relevant antitrust authorities. The Directorate-General for Competition at the European Commission then finally approved the acquisition of the German and French Wincanton business operations by the family-run corporation on Thursday. The shareholders of the British Wincanton parent company had also given their approval to the Rhenus plans to take over the continental European activities of their company, so that completion will take place on 2 January 2012.  

“We are delighted at the final approval from the anti-trust authorities at European level and we are looking forward to tackling the tasks ahead of us, which are linked to this decision,” said Klemens Rethmann, CEO at Rhenus. “We will continue to operate the corporate units that we have taken over jointly with the new members of staff in order to satisfy customer requirements and further develop these under the Rhenus brand.”

This takeover will particularly reinforce and expand the Contract Logistics and Port Logistics business areas at Rhenus. The business gained as a result complements the existing range of services in third-party logistics and multimodal transportation operations. Beyond this, the new high-tech logistics business unit will broaden the existing product range at Rhenus.

About Rhenus
The Rhenus Group provides logistics services around the globe and has annual turnover amounting to EUR 3 billion. Rhenus employs more than 18,000 people at more than 290 locations worldwide. The Rhenus business areas – Contract Logistics, Freight Logistics and Port Logistics – manage complex supply chains and provide a wealth of innovative value-added services.

Press contact details for the Rhenus Group
Medienbüro am Reichstag GmbH
Reinhardtstrasse 55
10117 Berlin
Germany
Tel.: +49 30 30 87 29 93
Fax: +49 30 30 87 29 95
Email: rhenus@mar-berlin.de

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