Expanding its services within the specialised transportsector, Barloworld Transport Solutions (BWTS) has acquired TCS Logistics (Pty) Ltd, a transport company that moves abnormal loads for clients into and around Sub-Saharan Africa.

Neil Henderson, CEO of Barloworld Transport Solutions says, “The acquisition is a good fit. It aligns with our strategy to offer clients a wide range of smart, reputable and reliable transport solutions in southern Africa. It expands our services and capabilities in this specialised area. There are many synergies within our businesses and we look forward to leveraging these to enhance our services to clients into Africa.’’

TCS will fall under the Specialised business unit of BWTS which is led by Andrew Nicholson, Rogan Brent and Jason Christie, the current MD and Operations Director of TCS will continue to head up this business. TCS was formed 16 years ago and has the skills, experience, regulatory requirements and a large fleet configuration with the capacity to move a maximum payload of 90 tons. TCS has depots in Durban, Johannesburg, Harare and Lusaka.

BWTS which incorporates the Manline, Manline Energy and Timber24 brands and is part of Barloworld Logistics has a fleet of over 800 vehicles, 1700 employees and more than 30 depots across southern Africa. TCS will be re-branded Manline Mega to build on the strong cross-border footprint, expertise and brand presence that Manline already has in the market.

Rogan Brent, MD of Manline Mega says, ‘Our team is highly experienced in planning, loading and delivering machinery, specialised equipment and project cargo. This is a competitive space with great growth opportunities for us. Joining the BWTS group is an exciting development for our business and our client base. We look forward to working and sharing best practices with our new colleagues to create more flexible, optimised and sustainable transport solutions for a wide variety of customers and sectors.’’

The deal was concluded and became effective on 5 June 2013.