US giant looks for hauliers in Europe
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by Rob WIHock • Small to medium-sized haulage firms will be targeted for acquisition by US industrial giants General Electric and Penske as part of their new joint-venture European logistics operation, announced this week.
A new company, Penske Logistics Europe (PLE), has already been established in the UK hoping to handle an estimated £310 million of business by the end of 1998, Brian Fiolarn, who heads PLE, says it will serve those multinational manufacturers and retailers which have, for many years, sought a single service provider.
Despite entering an already crowded marketplace, he estimates the venture could deliver savings between 25% and 50% and suggests that PLE will be market leader in five years. It will concentrate on six main markets—automotive, fastmoving consumer goods, food, healthcare, electronics and packaged chemicals and face fierce competition from the most established firm in these markets, Exel Logistics.
The company is hoping to buy a number of established operators to help get started, but not large UK pies,
GE Capital, a division of General Electric and majority stakeholder in Penske Logistics Europe, already has a 2% share of the European trailer rental market after buying Central Trailer Rentco and TIP Europe (CM 7-13August).