Queensland based major freight and logistic transport company, Simon National Carriers has revealed the company has been sold and it is now part of a significant Japanese operation.
Japanese multi-national logistics company, Senko Group, a multinational last year purchased a majority stake in Simons and now the the two groups have become part of the agreement for Senko to take 75 per cent of shares in Simon ,with Simon family interests retaining 25 per cent ownership.
Simon has been generally quiet about the acquisition and has not made a big deal of the announcement, in fact it is not even on the company website, however the company has apparently now let its major customers partners aware of the significant ownership changes.
“We put a lot of effort into selecting the perfect partner we felt was the right fit for our business, that had the right approach with their acquisitions. Certainly to date it’s been everything that we’ve expected,” said Simon National Carriers CEO, David Simon.
“ We haven’t made a big deal of the thing deliberately ,” said Simon.
Simon said that in reality nothing too much had changed with nothing being different apart from a change in the shareholders balance, adding that the company management will stay the same and operations will continue in the same way.
The CEO has intimated that the company may start to offer additional services given potential synergies the tie up with Senko provides.
Senko is said to he a transport giant, controlling in excess of 200 companies globally, with a huge presence in air freight particularly across Asia, Europe and the US.
“Our customer base told us they had a belief that Simon would come under pressure from international logistics operators and this situation provides an international partner that is sensible for the business,” he said.
Senko said Simon offered high-quality logistics services with a proven track record serving Japanese companies and major global corporations.
In its press statement re the purchase, Senko said it would ‘focus on further expanding business by leveraging the know-how and networking capabilities that Simon National Carriers possessed with heavy and specialised cargo transportation’.
David Simon reckons that Australian logistics companies such as his face an ongoing risk “ from any other Australian logistics companies that are largely work with international customers.
Most of Simon’s customer base is multinational and they say there’s other international suppliers approaching them from other parts of the world however he pointed out that it had largely fended those approaches run the past.
“It’s always been a risk that we’ve seen and when a risk like that comes along, our reputation and service as well as our relationships and quality service has always stood us well, including when Senko was approaching one of our customers a decade or so ago,” said Simon.
He said that the Senko Group will also be looking to secure new customers, in Australia and on a global basis, adding it will harnesss its well identified business know-how.
Following the Senko purchase late last year Simon has actively added to its already impressive fleet with a number of key assets being updated, including acquiring
five new Mercedes-Benz Actros prime movers, while another six Scanias were added in the past month, while it also added the first electric trucks to its fleet, purchasing a Volvo FE Electric and FL Electric, which are currently in a preparation stage at body builders before being addd to Simon’s on road fleet in the next few weeks.
