DHL looks to strengthen presence in South American market
The São Paulo-based road carrier specialises in temperature-controlled transportation, enabling the shipment of biologic drugs and vaccines with temperature specifications.
Polar Transportes ships both Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and finished products to customers’ plants, from Brazilian ports and airports. Synthetic and biological drugs are among those currently transported under cold chain conditions.
DHL hopes the acquisition will strengthen its end-to-end offering for the Life Sciences and Healthcare industry in Brazil.
Polar Transportes has been working as a service provider for DHL for over 15 years. Its current network of 300 trucks allows national coverage, with greater circulation in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the Goías State.
“Acquiring control of our longstanding service provider Polar Transportes is…taking one more step to further foster our strong position in a key emerging market,” said Javier Bilbao, CEO DHL Supply Chain Latin America.
While the financial terms of the acquisition have not been revealed, DHL has agreed to retain Polar Transportes’ current management team. Both companies are awaiting approval from the Brazilian competition authorities before the deal can be finalised.
The acquisition is in line with DHL’s interest in emerging markets. DHL Global Forwarding invested almost $1m (€935,462) in the market in 2016, and earlier this year announced the Group would be investing in four new temperature-controlled storage chambers in Puerto Rico.
