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WFS acquires 51 per cent stake in Fraport cargo services

PARIS-BASED Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) is to acquire a 51 per cent of Frankfurt's Fraport Cargo Services (FCS) as part of a strategic partnership with Fraport AG.

The investment is part of WFS' strategy to continue to expand in Europe's major cargo markets, says the American Journal of Transportation.

Fraport is to retain a 49 per cent share in FCS and will continue to take a substantial role in the management of the company, it said.

Terms of the transaction, which WFS and Fraport plan to close by September, have not yet been disclosed.

For over 40 years, Fraport Cargo Services has been the largest provider of independent cargo handling services at Frankfurt Airport, Europe's joint largest cargo airport alongside Paris Charles de Gaulle.

In 2014, cargo and mail traffic through Frankfurt rose 1.8 per cent to some 2.1 million tonnes. FCS employs more than 600 cargo handlers at its freight centres serving the world's leading air carriers.

"This positions WFS and FCS as the leading cargo handler at one of the biggest cargo airports in the world," said WFS chief executive Olivier Bijaoui.

"As Europe's largest economy, Germany is obviously a prime focus in our growth plans. We could not ask for a stronger partner than Fraport," he said.

Said Fraport AG chairman Stefan Schulte: "It has been our wish to find a strong and competent partner that offers a strong international network. Thus, we gain an even broader globally-linked base for developing FCS further."

Founded in 1971, WFS is the world's largest cargo handler and a leading global provider of ground handling and technical services with annual revenues of EUR700 million (US$775 million). It employs 14,000 staff and at 145 major airports in more 22 countries, handling over four million tonnes of cargo a year.