JSE-listed Grindrod said on Tuesday that the recently announced acquisition of the Novagroup from Pescanova will enhance its service and product offering, as well as expand its footprint in Southern Africa.
Nova was established in the 1960s to deliver support services to the maritime industry, and has grown to be one of the leading providers of marine and aviation rescue and survival equipment, container storage, shipwright, depots, bespoke engineering and support services.
In its announcement, Grindrod stated that services provided by Nova dovetailed with Grindrod existing businesses, specifically the provision of marine and aviation rescue and survival equipment and Nova’s United Container Depot (UCD) business. These businesses complement Sturrock Grindrod Marine Tech (SGMT) and Grindrod Intermodal, respectively.
“The intention is to strengthen our position in the niche marine technical market,” said Sturrock Grindrod Maritime CEO Andrew Sturrock. “This acquisition will enable us to leverage off the respective sales and servicing agreements of both SGMT and Nova, with a view to enhance our already impressive range of services and to increase our comprehensive product offering to the marine and shore-based industries we serve.”
In addition to providing a more comprehensive product offering, the integration of Nova’s businesses will introduce further complementary services to SGMT’s customer base.
Newly appointed Grindrod Intermodal CEO Mahmood Simjee commented that the group would be able to provide solutions to shipping lines from a wider footprint in Southern Africa.
Grindrod Intermodal currently have warehousing and depot facilities in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Mozambique with a total area of 411 600 m² and a throughput of 350 000 twenty-foot equivalent units a year. The integration of UCD will provide further depot facilities in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth totalling an area of 78 000 m².
“We have advised that we are looking to ‘scale up’ our businesses. It is important that these acquisitions support our existing core expertise and that they contribute to unlocking trade corridors for our valued customers,” said Grindrod CEO Andrew Waller. “This acquisition of a good footprint, agencies and people will do exactly that.