Portfolio
ABX Logistics Group
| Sector | Industrials |
|---|---|
| Investment type | Buyouts |
| Region | Benelux |
| Status | Former investment |
Nature of Business
ABX Logistics is a freight forwarding business, specialising in consolidating its customers’ bulky products into pallets or containers, and arranging their transportation via subcontracted transport providers.
The company focuses on European freight forwarding by road and inter-continental freight forwarding by air or sea. In 2006 when 3i first invested in ABX, the company had operations in nearly 100 countries and had a workforce of approximately 8,000.
Investment Overview
Leveraging our European network and drawing on our expertise in complex cross-border transactions, we worked with the European Commission, SNCB (the publicly-owned Belgian railways, owner of ABX) and the Belgian Government, before taking ABX Logistics private in August 2006.
Following the transaction, we focused on addressing ABX’s loss-making operations, increasing the company’s global presence and integrating and developing its core activities: Air & Sea, European International Road Transport and Contract Logistics.
We worked with CEO Laurent Levaux and the management team to lead a wide range of operational and top line-growth initiatives, such as improving the effectiveness of the sales force and implementing a redesign of the company’s IT platform to improve its quality of service.
During our investment, ABX expanded its operations globally, most notably in the US, China, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, Poland, India and Japan, and the business was transformed, faster than expected, into a profitable, cohesive global group, recording revenues of €1.8bn in 2007.
In 2008, the global transport and logistics operator, DSV, identified ABX as a key acquisition target and the subsequent sale of ABX saw DSV acquire a majority shareholding in the group. Following the deal the two companies have merged operations.
