Culina Group begins 2023 with yet another acquisition

The Culina Group has continued its recent acquisition spree by acquiring International Road Ferry (IRF). The terms of the agreement, which became active yesterday, have not been disclosed.

The deal was confirmed on Culina’s LinkedIn page this morning as well as in a widely circulated press release.

IRF has offices in Rotterdam, Grubbenvorst (Venlo), Felixstowe and Thetford. In its press release, Culina highlighted IRF’s specialisation in unaccompanied transport between Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, both in terms of full loads and part loads.

Culina Group says the acquisition has significantly strengthened its position in the European Logistics Sector. At the same time, it adds that IRF will benefit from Group ownership, which will “provide investment and job retention whilst bringing an entrepreneurial spirit”.

Commenting on the deal, Thomas van Mourik, Culina Group CEO, said:

“International Road Ferry and Culina Group are complementary businesses, both are strong organisations with well-earned reputations in the industry and hold similar values. This is a great fit which is going to be beneficial for both our staff and for our clients, whilst making Culina Group a key player in European transport. It goes without saying that we are acquiring some excellent people, contracts and facilities. This move significantly expands our European network and will enable us to benefit from synergies and efficiencies that will improve our service offer to customers even further.”

According to Culina, following the acquisition, it will be “business as usual for International Road Ferry”. The company will sit within Culina Group’s Stobart Intermodal operation headed up by Arthur Koutstaal as Managing Director. In addition to this, Raff Hustinx, Stobart Europe Managing Director, will be assisting with finance and reporting.

“Culina Group recognises that it is investing in a highly successful business with its own great spirit. Our aim is to now support our growth trajectory with the added infrastructure and resources of the overall Culina Group. The combining of our two businesses will create major opportunities for significantly growing market share.” said Antoine Ligtvoet, CEO of International Road Ferry.

Rounding off its press release, the Culina Group boasted it now has an overall turnover of more than £2.2 Billion, a combined workforce in excess of 22,000 employees at peak, over 20 million square feet of warehousing and a joint fleet of more than 5,000 vehicles.