Specialist transport company Ville Silvasti, Finland has acquired Nurminen Logistics Heavy from Nurminen Logistics Plc for an undisclosed sum.

The special transportation business and all 20 employees of Nurminen Logistics Heavy, which has a turnover of €6.5 million (US$ 7.2 million), will be transferred to Silvasti. The capacity of the company to provide special transportation and related project logistics will remarkably increase, Ville Silvasti, Silvasti managing director, advised. Silvasti’s turnover in 2015 will grow to approximately €20 million and the number of personnel to around 50.

Nurminen Logistics Heavy provide special transportation between Finland and Continental Europe, as well as activities in the Baltic countries, Russia and other CIS countries. The Nurminen depots in Helsinki and Jyväskylä are part of the deal. The acquired fleet includes heavy prime movers, Goldhofer THP/UT axle lines with accessories, semi-trailers, lowbeds and more, with an average age of three years. The equipment will be subsumed into the Silvasti fleet and painted in its colours.

“The acquisition supports Silvasti’s strategy to hold the leading position in special transportation and related project logistics in the Nordic countries, as well as special transportation between the Nordic countries and Continental Europe. We will now also create a strong basis for special transportation to Russia”, Ville Silvasti said.

“It is an honour for us to buy a company that has become something of an institution in the front line of Finnish special transport. Their employee skills and competence are top level, and it will be great to combine our forces to create something new and unforeseen in the industry. In this special business area, the significance of individuals is great”, Ville Silvasti said.

Hannu Vuorinen, Nurminen Logistics Heavy managing director, commented, “Existing customers of both companies will benefit from the combined and extensive service portfolio. In addition individual transportation tasks, combined transportation, including many different methods of transport, transhipments, storage, hauling and installation will be possible more flexibly than ever before. The co-operation with the Nurminen’s terminal for heavy transport and forwarding services in Vuosaari, will also be continued and increased.”

Nurminen Logistics will continue with regular road haulage and the two companies have agreed to co-operate on their respective service offer.

The deal is particularly important to the Silvasti family business as it brings a company founded by Ville Silvasti’s father, Jukka, back into the family. “My father founded the company in the early 1970s and built it into one of the largest special transportation companies in Finland. The company was sold to Nurminen in 1988. As a young boy, I often accompanied my father to his workplace and became familiar with the business.

“After completing a Master of Science degree in automotive engineering and acquiring a several years of work experience, I became interested in founding my own company and so I established Ville Silvasti Ltd. As measured by turnover, the family business is now the market leader in special transportation throughout Finland, and with this deal, its competence will grow even more. Thus, the circle closes, in one sense”, Ville Silvasti explained.

The acquisition will be completed at the end of September and Silvasti said he will continue to look for further growth opportunities.