NYK to purchase Ceres Terminals
September 12, 2002
Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) of Tokyo is pleased to announce that on September 12, 2002, it executed a binding Agreement to purchase Ceres Terminals, Incorporated. The parties expect to close the acquisition by late October 2002. Terms were not disclosed.
Ceres Terminals, with annual revenues in excess of U.S.$150 Million, was founded in 1958 by Christos Kritikos and currently provides stevedoring and terminal operating services in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Baltimore, Maryland; Norfolk, Virginia; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; New Orleans, Louisiana; Houston, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; and Duluth, Minnesota. Ceres also participates in a joint venture with Logistec in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Ceres Terminals also operates the Ceres Amsterdam Marine Terminals B.V. and is the developer of the new and innovative Paragon Container Terminal in Amsterdam. This facility represents a paradigm improvement in Container Terminals designed to accommodate the new, larger container vessels being deployed around the world.
Mr. Kritikos and his management team will remain with the Company after the acquisition. Continuity of management and maintenance of superior service levels is a key for NYK to insure this new acquisition continues to prosper and grow consistent with the quality the Industry has come to expect from Ceres.
Ceres Terminals handles in excess of 2.5 million TEUs at its various facilities and provides NYK with a significant terminal operating base on the East and Gulf Coasts of North America. Ceres also gives NYK an important terminal opportunity at its innovative Paragon Terminal in Europe. The Ceres locations will complement NYK's existing facilities in Los Angeles and Oakland, California, Tokyo, Yokohama, and Kobe, Japan, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. NYK also has investments in facilities in Nagoya, Japan; Laem Chabang, Thailand; and Sydney, Australia. With this acquisition, NYK contemplates handling in excess of 6 million TEUs worldwide in 2003, thereby propelling the Company into the ranks of the world's premier terminal operators.
NYK has embraced a strategy of growing its business segments, not just in the ocean transportation sector, but also in worldwide logistics and other transportation related activities that support NYK's worldwide freight handling network. As one of the world's largest vessel operators, terminal capability for Containers as well as Rollon/Rolloff and breakbulk cargoes represents a vital business sector for NYK. The purchase of Ceres Terminals adds significant capacity in this strategic terminal sector and is consistent with NYK's long term Corporate direction.