Grimsby, UK: HSH Coldstores is to buy Associated Cold Stores & Transport, a subsidiary of Camellia, for £16.5 million in cash.
The acquisition, expected to close on 10 January 2023, will boost HSH’s UK storage capacity to around 140,000 pallet positions with the addition of ACS&T’s sites in Grimsby, Tewkesbury, and Wolverhampton. The fleet will increase to 75 tractors.
Anthony Howard, managing director, said: “The acquisition will provide a unique opportunity for HSH to expand its storage and distribution services for our new and existing customers.
“Having co-founded HSH nearly 20 years ago, I am extremely proud to see how our company has grown over the years and would like to extend my gratitude to our team on reaching this milestone. I look forward to collaborating with the team at ACS&T to accelerate our growth and develop new high quality cold chain solutions.”
HSH Coldstores is a subsidiary of Constellation Cold Logistics, the third largest provider of cold storage in Europe, with 500,000 pallet spaces at 21 sites in six countries: Belgium, France, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
ACS&T, which is a BRCGS accredited food temperature-controlled storage and logistics business, had revenues of £13m and recorded a profit before tax of £0.6m for the six months ending 30 June 2022 (year ended 31 December 2021: revenue of £22m).
At 30 June 2022, the gross assets attributable to the business were £33.6m and net assets attributable to the business were £14.8m. Camellia expects to record a gain on the sale of ACS&T (net of expenses) in the current financial year of approximately £3.7m.
