It concerns in particular the logistics and transport activities in and from Bergen op Zoom (with a focus on chemicals, including hazardous goods) and the group’s removal companies.

Negotiations are presently in an advanced phase, and completion of the acquisition is scheduled for the end of this year. The acquisition is in line with H.Essers’ multi-year growth plan to continue to invest heavily in advanced chemical logistics and the further geographic development of its activities in the Netherlands.

“The acquisition of the Meeus Group’s chemical cluster will significantly expand our warehousing footprint as well as our multimodal transport and distribution network in the Netherlands,” says Gert Bervoets, CEO of H.Essers. “We look forward to pooling the expertise of our companies: a win-win for both parties and our customers.”

Acquisition of chemical and removal activities

In concrete terms, this concerns the acquisition of the group’s chemical cluster and two removal companies (8 facilities in the Netherlands and 1 in France): Mepavex Logistics (warehousing and value added services), Meeus Transport (international transport between mainly the Netherlands and France), Meeus France, Meeus Freight Management and BGT (forwarding activities), Darvi Transport (Benelux transport), MCT (an inland container terminal), and the removal companies of the UTS network (UTS van den Berg and van Egeraat Verhuizingen).

All companies will remain active under their respective names. The activities of the three Hartog and Bikker companies (Den Hartog & Bikker, H&B Logistics and Bikker Logistics), which are active in the storage and transport of volume goods, are not part of the acquisition.

Largest acquisition in corporate history

“The acquisition fits seamlessly into our multiyear growth strategy, with a strong focus on the further development of supply chain solutions for our strategic customer segments in Europe,” says Gert Bervoets. With the acquisition, H.Essers is also strengthening its own transport and distribution network in the Netherlands. The Meeus Group fleet includes 110 trucks and 590 trailers and container chassis.

With 411 employees and expected revenue of € 57 million for this year, this is the largest acquisition ever in the corporate history of H.Essers.

No further financial details of the acquisition were disclosed. The acquisition is subject to final agreement as well as approval by the competition authorities.