The transformation of Melina Travlos’ Neptune Group into a diversified provider of car carrier transport services took a big step forward this week, with the acquisition of a controlling stake in a car truck company in Greece.
The Greek shipowner’s onshore logistics division Neptune Land Services (NLS) announced on 8 November a deal to buy a majority stake in Ferst Logistics — an Athens-based owner and subcontractor of more than 55 automotive trucks.
The acquisition marks “a significant stride” in the group’s business transformation, Travlos said in a statement.
Neptune Line, which has a fleet of 21 car carriers, set up NLS in January to branch out into onshore vehicle distribution as well.
Establishing NLS was the most eye-catching move made by the company under Craig Jasienski, an Australian manager whom Travlos appointed as Neptune Lines’ chief executive in September 2021.
The Ferst Logistics deal is NLS’s first major transaction.
“It is a strategic collaboration that enables us to leverage Ferst’s expertise in onshore logistics and combine it with our strong, robust maritime distribution network,” Jasienski said in the statement.
Ferst is a second-generation family business with 180 employees and 400,000 square metres of facilities to the west of Athens.
No financial details of the transaction were disclosed.
According to its latest annual filings for 2022, Ferst had a net profit of €265,609 ($283,275) that year, on a turnover of €13.9m and assets with a book value of €9.1m.
The company that would eventually become Ferst went into business in 1991 as Greece’s first private operator of customs warehouses.
The company used to be part of the Sarantitis Warehouses group but became a standalone entity in 2020, when Sarantitis was split up into five separate companies, with Ferst taking over all automotive activities.
Under the terms of its takeover by Travlos, Ferst will retain its management team under chief executive Dimitris Kympizis.
NLS is far from done growing and is already planning its future steps.
“The company’s main pillars of development and activity in the near future include the development of car terminals offering a full range of modern technical services, as well as the provision of optimal distribution solutions for vehicles to end-customers,” it said in the statement.
