AGRO Merchants Group, Alpharetta, Ga., acquired Poland Services Transport – Logistyka (PTSL), based in Poland. This acquisition represents a significant entry for AGRO into a new market, and expands its geographic reach and service offerings throughout Europe. The PTSL management team, led by Slawomir and Krzysztof Samonek and Bart Mol, will continue to lead the current business and planned expansion initiatives.

Established in 2007 as a transport service provider, PSTL expanded into freight forwarding and customs clearance services, and in 2015, built a state-of-the-art 58,000-cubic-meter frozen warehouse located near the Port of Gdańsk.

PSTL specializes in storage, value-added services and logistics of frozen meat, poultry, seafood and other goods such as frozen fruit, vegetables and dairy products, including transportation using owned fleet assets, or strategic subcontractors, freight forwarding, customs clearance, complete export documentation and cargo insurance.

“This acquisition reflects AGRO’s commitment to grow our footprint in core import/export markets,” says Jan Harthoorn, AGRO’s vice president of strategic development for Europe. “PSTL is a great fit for us in terms of culture, customer focus and value-added services, plus we’re adding a top-class management team. Poland and Eastern Europe are very important geographies for AGRO, and this acquisition allows us to expand significantly our presence and services into this key market.”

“We believe in the great potential of the Polish market,” adds Sławomir Samonek, managing director of PSTL. “Our company is young, and combined with previous experiences and the AGRO team, this is a great step for us to grow further with our customers and offer end-to-end solutions. We have seen the Port of Gdansk expand immensely, and we look forward to also expanding locally, nationally and internationally as part of the AGRO Merchants network.”

AGRO’s acquisition of PTSL fits into a broader investment strategy focused on key European trading hubs. In January, it opened a new 18,000-pallet-space facility in Rotterdam-Maasvlakte. This was followed up in February with the acquisitions of Frissul and Frigomato.