Logistics deal creates £70m turnover business
Liverpool-based Abbey Logistics Group has acquired Armet Logistics, a bulk liquid food transport company, for an undisclosed sum.
The combined businesses will generate an expected turnover of more than £70m in 2017/18 and employ around 700 people in the UK, with plans to grow to over £100m in revenues by 2021, creating a further 300 jobs.
Founded in 2001, Armet Logistics has a large and modern liquid bulk road tanker fleet, together with a tank wash facility in Liverpool.
Armet provides both fully managed logistics and single product movements to deliver a wide range of food grade liquid products throughout the UK. It has built a strong reputation in the food sector and operates on behalf of some of the UK’s largest food ingredients manufacturers.
Armet managing director Charles Lucy will remain with the business as a director and the Armet brand will be integrated into the Abbey brand following a period of familiarisation.
Charles Lucy, Armet managing director, said: “I have spent the past 16 years building Armet into a key player in the liquid food transport market and I am proud of what has been achieved to date. My relationship with Steve (Granite) goes back over 20 years and the opportunity for us to bring our businesses together and create an outstanding offering for our joint customer base is a very exciting prospect for me.”
Steve Granite, Abbey Logistics Group chief executive said: “I know that by bringing Armet into Abbey, this positive can-do culture within the group will be strengthened even further and enable us to take problems away from our customers.
“By combining our people, fleets, depot networks and services we will create the ability to deliver an unrivalled customer experience that is focused on compliance, flexibility and outstanding customer service. The Armet acquisition is an important milestone in building Europe’s best bulk tanker business and I very much look forward to working with the combined teams to deliver just that.”
Abbey, which completed a management buyout in August 2016 backed by NorthEdge Capital, was advised by Deloitte’s financial services team who provided transaction due diligence. Legal advice was provided by Napthens, and finance was supported by HSBC. Armet Logistics received legal advice from Brown Turner Ross.
