Local operation upbeat
about positive impact
INCHCAPE SHIPPING Services (ISS), the world's largest independent shipping agency network, has been taken over by Electra Fleming, a move that is likely to have a marked impact on SA-based Voigt Shipping Services, which was recently taken over by Inchcape.
It could be beneficial to us, says Paul Voigt, head of the South African company. In the past ISS has been somewhat diversified, with interests stretching to oil, cruises and commodity services, such as the automobile industry.
Now we will be concentrating internationally on the distribution sector. Transport is our business and that is what Electra is aiming at.
British-based Electra Fleming is an international investment management group specialising in private equity finance, with affiliates in Europe, USA, Latin America and Asia.
The ISS network provides ship support services for more than 30 vessels and handles in excess of one and a half million containers annually.
The transition to the new ownership will be seamless, according to Simon Morse, ISS c.e.o., with name, network, management and organisation unchanged.
The strong financial backing of Electra Fleming will allow us to continue to grow the business and build on services we already offer to the shipping industry. During the past five years we have been transforming ISS from a miscellany of local operations into a globally branded and managed business. We can now develop the skills of our global organisation to become shipping's leading outsourcing company of the millennium.
Nigel McConnell, director of Electra Fleming, will join the board of ISS as a non-executive director.
We are investing in a unique international service franchise which has built up strong positions in what are essentially fragmented markets, he says. As the world-leading player in the ship husbandry market, ISS is well placed to become the predominant supplier of outsourced services to the shipping industry.
