The bankruptcy was filed at the Brussels Commercial Court on Monday, 1 June, according to Belgian news agency Belga. The collapse affects several Ziegler entities in Belgium, including Ziegler SA, Intertrans, Dornach and Universal Express.
Belga reported that around 400 employees are affected, although Belgian and aviation trade press reports have also referred to a higher figure of more than 500 jobs at risk. Trade union representatives said the priority was to save as many jobs as possible.
The Belgian bankruptcy follows the collapse of Ziegler France earlier this year, which led to the loss of around 1,500 jobs. The problems at the French business had already raised concerns about the future of Ziegler’s Belgian operations.
Most of Ziegler Belgium’s activities will now pass to Transuniverse Forwarding, the Ghent-based transport and logistics company. According to reports by Belga and Dutch trade media, Transuniverse is taking over seven Ziegler sites in Belgium: Aalst, Antwerp, Brussels Expo, Kontich, Rekkem/LAR, Welkenraedt and Zeebrugge.
The takeover expands Transuniverse’s activities in transport, distribution, logistics, customs and maritime forwarding. Dutch transport publication TTM reported that the company’s turnover is expected to rise from around €100 million to €135 million as a result of the acquisition.
Transuniverse is also expected to take on a large part of Ziegler Belgium’s workforce, although no exact number has been confirmed.
Frank Adins, chairman of Transuniverse, said the acquisition would strengthen the company’s presence in transport and distribution and expand its logistics and customs activities. He also pointed to the Welkenraedt site as a possible transhipment platform for customers in Limburg and Wallonia, with onward flows to Germany and Central and Eastern Europe.
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That could give Transuniverse an additional routing option away from the congested Antwerp area, particularly for freight moving between Belgium, Germany and eastern markets.
Separately, Van Moer Logistics has confirmed that it has acquired Ziegler Belgium’s air freight activities with immediate effect.
In its own statement, Van Moer said the acquired air freight division operated as a certified IATA freight forwarder at Brussels Airport and served a diverse customer base in the air cargo sector. The company said all activities would continue without interruption.
“Air freight was the only forwarding service we could not yet offer our customers in-house,” said Jo Van Moer, founder and CEO of Van Moer Logistics. “Many of our customers move goods by road, water and air. From today, they can also come to us for their air freight shipments.”
Van Moer said the acquisition adds air freight to its existing services in road transport, inland waterway transport, warehousing, port and terminal logistics, depot and container logistics, value-added logistics and forwarding.
The company said it now has more than 2,200 employees, 500 trucks, 15 inland vessels, 850,000 sq m of warehouse space and more than 40 locations across Belgium.
The carve-up of Ziegler Belgium leaves parts of the collapsed business continuing under new owners, but it also marks the end of Ziegler’s Belgian operations as an independent logistics group after more than a century in business.
