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Wrist Ship Supply Acquires Van Hulle
Danish ship supplier Wrist Ship Supply acquires Belgian
competitor Van Hulle in order to strengthen its position in
Belgium and the Netherlands.
According to a press release from the supplier of provision and
stores to ships and offshore installations, while Van Hulle will
continue operating as a stand-alone business unit, this enhances
their market presence and service offering and marks yet another
important step in the steady development of Wrist's global
network.
With the acquisition of Van Hulle, Wrist Ship Supply now adds
Belgium to its global footprint expanding its presence in the ARA
market. Robert Kledal, CEO in Wrist, said: "We are looking
forward to initiate a great cooperation with Van Hulle and we
will for sure benefit both ways from each our experiences in the
ship supply market."
Van Hulle's management team, with Bart van Hulle in the lead,
will continue to run the operation out of Antwerp and Zeebrugge
in Belgium, where the former family-owned business has large and
modern warehouse and storage facilities, centrally located in the
port areas.
Van Hulle is a solid and well-reputed business providing a high
customer service to the local market. "With the inclusion in the
Wrist Group, Van Hulle will benefit from Wrist's global setup and
scale advantages providing even better opportunities for our
customers" says Bart van Hulle, CEO of Van Hulle.
For more than a decade it has been part of Wrist's strategy to
take a leading role in the global consolidation of a
traditionally fragmented ship supply industry, typically composed
of locally based and often family-owned businesses. Consequently,
Wrist is continuously examining various opportunities for further
growth, including acquisitions as well as start-ups.
More recent expansions of the Wrist Group's activities include
the acquisition of Klevenberg Shipping Center in 2018 and Garrets
International in 2016. In 2017 Wrist added an office in Shanghai,
to a large extent targeting new built vessels needing a broad
spectrum of provisions and stores before delivery from shipyards
to the ship owners.
Jul 11, 2019
