Polar completes deal with DHL
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- June
- 28
DHL Express, the large shipping company based in Plantation, Fla., has completed a $150 million deal to buy 49 percent of Polar Air Cargo Worldwide Inc. and gain additional aircraft space to ship cargo to fast-growing Asian markets.
Polar, an air cargo company that is a subsidiary of Harrison-based Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc., will provide space on six Boeing 747-400 freighters and one 747-200 freighter to DHL Express as part of the deal. DHL Express also can gain a 25 percent voting stake in Polar under the transaction first announced last October.
“We are pleased to close on this significant transaction,� William J. Flynn, president and chief executive officer of Atlas, said in a written statement. “We welcome DHL Express as an anchor customer for Polar and the opportunity to be a sizeable supplier of air cargo capacity to a dominant player in the express business.�
Atlas added that the 20-year deal with DHL Express, a subsidiary of German-based Deutsche Post AG, could result in potential revenues of more than $3.5 billion.
DHL paid $75 million of the purchase upon the closing of the deal. It will pay another $75 million in two installments.
DHL Express said the deal with Polar will significantly improve service to DHL Express customers that ship goods between the Asia Pacific region and the United States, reducing transit times and increasing reliability of delivery. The Asia Pacific region is particularly attractive to DHL Express with the overall share of world air trade connected to Asia’s markets, including China and Japan, expected to increase from 50.8 percent in 2005 to 63.3 percent in 2025.
“We are now ideally positioned for even greater growth in Asia Pacific and the U.S.,� Charles Graham, chief executive officer for aviation at DHL Express, said in a written statement.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, June 28th, 2007 at 4:03 pm by Jay Loomis.
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