Essers buys in Spain

CORAL SYMPHONY

ACQUISITION • H ESSERS HAS CONTINUED ON ITS GROWTH PATH, EXPANDING IN SOUTHERN EUROPE THROUGH THE ACQUISITION OF BARCELONA-BASED CORAL TRANSPORTS

H ESSERS HAS ACQUIRED Coral Transports & Stocks, a Spanish logistics company active in the transport and warehousing of chemicals and hazardous goods. H Essers says the move is a “logical step in the realisation of its strategic ambitions” to expand its chemical activities in southern Europe.

“The acquisition gives us additional resources and warehouse space, as well as access to a new international network,” says H Essers’ CEO Gert Bervoets. “This means we can optimise our transport to and from Spain and the rest of Europe. For example, we will connect Coral’s Spanish transport network to the Belgian one via a train connection. The overseas solutions are also an asset to our customers. We offer them an even broader one-stop-shop service with Europe an and regional distribution centres and synchromodal, integrated solutions.”

Coral Transports & Stocks was founded in 1995 by the Comas family and has since then achieved strong and stable growth, with turnover of €27m in 2020 and. It specialises in handling, storing and transporting chemical goods and has fi ve locations: three in Barcelona, one in Madrid and one in Gran Canaria, offering a combined Seveso-certifi ed warehouse capacity of more than 55,000 m2 in the heart of the Spanish chemical sector, with a total workforce of 164 people. In addition to national and international road transport, and partly through cooperation with Iberteam, Coral also offers overseas sea and air connections.

PART OF THE FAMILY The acquisition of Coral not only fi ts with H Essers’ expansion plans but also with its corporate culture. “The employees and management will stay on and become part of our family,” says Bervoets. “It is a good match, both in terms of activities and family values. Both H Essers and Coral Transports & Stocks are family businesses with strong and similar values. Coral will be able to continue these values as part of our large H Essers family.”

“We are happy that with a partner like H Essers, a family business with which we share many values and allows us to continue our growth story,” says Joan Comas.

“Spain is also one of the spearheads of our international expansion,” Bervoets adds. “The chemical industry is strongly represented, and there is a lot of potential to further develop our chemical logistics solutions. The knowledge of local and international markets present at Coral Transports & Stocks is indispensable to accomplish this ambition. They also have a Seveso licence and a customer portfolio that matches ours. Coral Transports & Stocks, in turn, will be able to call on our expertise in chemistry to continue to grow and strengthen its reference position.”

The acquisition of Coral Transports & Stocks follows on from recent strategic growth by H Essers in the chemicals sector, which has included the acquisitions of Norwegian tank container operator Tank Management and the chemical logistics activities of the Dutch Meeus Group, as well as a focus on further development of Essers’ Genk headquarters facility and its logistics connections. Last year the company achieved turnover of €797m, up from €746m in 2019. In now has more than 1.1 m2 of warehouse space and 77 branches in 19 countries around the world. www.essers.com