LV Overseas acquired the Cargotrans group

Already one of the leading players in the sea freight forwarding industry, particularly for Overseas territories, LV Overseas has always displayed its ambition to strengthen its expertise and services towards complementary niches.

Few months after the entry of 21 Invest France into LV Overseas’ capital, the group completes the acquisition of a strategic target enabling to extend its geographic coverage and strengthen its services range.Already one of the leading players in the sea freight forwarding industry, particularly for Overseas territories, LV Overseas has always displayed its ambition to strengthen its expertise and services towards complementary niches. As part of its internationalization strategy, LV Overseas had identified several acquisitions with strong synergies, including Cargotrans.Founded in 2009 by Elias Romanos, Alexis Danelian and Victor Maalouf, Cargotrans is a freight forwarder, mainly for sea transport, whose activity is located in mainland France, Dubai and Qatar. The Cargotrans group has developed a strong know-how in large-scale projects in the construction and public works sectors; for which it organizes tailor-made door-to-door transport and coordinates all logistical, administrative and customs stages.This acquisition, perfectly in line with LV Overseas' growth and consolidation strategy, allows to further open up the Middle East region where the group already made an acquisition in 2018, and to address a new booming market. The transaction, which was closed on January 28, is financed by a capex line secured in May 2019 when 21 Invest acquired LV Overseas and sees Cargotrans shareholders reinvest significantly. The group’s consolidated sales will reach €M 183, of which €M 19 for Cargotrans.Philippe Massot, CEO of LV Overseas comments: "Human is at the heart of the sea freight forwarding industry. I met with Elias Romanos several years ago and I am very happy to join him in order to grow together and assert the LV Overseas group’s presence worldwide. Supported by committed and efficient teams, we will make a point of honor to put in place our various projects and to keep developing in our markets."Stéphane Perriquet, Managing Partner & Deputy General Manager at 21 Invest in France declares: "We are delighted to quickly begin the growth project on which we agreed with Philippe Massot last year. This build-up is fully in line with the external growth strategy that we are taking hand in hand with the management team and we are very confident in the potential for synergies between LV Overseas and Cargotrans. Other acquisitions are under study in order to achieve our ambitions in terms of global presence and recognition."Co-founders of Cargotrans add: “After having created and developed Cargotrans for more than 10 years, we are pleased to participate in this merger which will open many growth opportunities for our two groups. We would like to thank Philippe Massot and his team for their support and trust."

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