Canadian shipowner CSL Group has acquired a minority stake in bulk material handling systems designer and supplier EMS-Tech Inc.
The investment will "build on the synergies developed between CSL and EMS-Tech over 25 years and will leverage the companies' respective strengths in delivering advanced cargo handling solutions", CSL said.
Neither the size of the stake nor the financial terms of the transaction were disclosed.
CSL said EMS-Tech's innovative solutions to the bulk material handling industry could be found on self-unloading ships and transshipment assets owned and operated by CSL.
News of CSL's stake in EMS-Tech comes just days after Norden chief executive Jan Rindbo said the Danish shipowner would also be investing in port logistics.
Customers increasingly want Norden to integrate into their business and supply chains, so the firm is seizing opportunities in port logistics, he told TradeWinds.
"Here, we are increasingly also looking at making some investments — that can be in various [types of] port equipment — that can help our customers to become more efficient."
EMS-Tech president and owner, Peter Sorensen, said he believed that project partnerships with CSL will "take our industry-leading expertise and know-how to new markets and geographies".
"Since CSL began working with EMS-Tech in 1996, the alignment of our complimentary capabilities has produced state-of-the-art cargo handling solutions for our customers," said CSL chief executive Louis Martel.
"This investment is an extension of our confidence in EMS-Tech's capabilities and growth potential, and a continuation of our commitment to provide our global customers with a full range of safe, sustainable and high-performance services."
Montreal-based CSL Group is the largest owner and operator of self-unloading ships in the world and delivers more than 70m tonnes of cargo annually for customers in the construction, steel, energy and agri-food sectors.
Privately-owned EMS-Tech employs approximately 100 people around the world, with offices in Canada, the Netherlands, and China.
The company says it offers a wide range of bulk material handling solutions for, but not limited to, stackers, stacker-reclaimers, reclaimers, shiploaders, receiving systems, vessel self-unloading systems and transshipment systems.
