IFCO enters Colombian reusable plastic crate segment through acquisition of Empacotecnia SAS

IFCO SYSTEMS, a Brambles Company, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Empacotecnia SAS (“Empacotecnia”), Colombia’s leading provider of reusable plastic crate (RPC) pooling services. The transaction completed on May 3, 2016.

IFCO SYSTEMS’ CEO, Wolfgang Orgeldinger, said: “This acquisition complements our strong organic growth in South America by adding a successful market leader with strong financial returns and a promising growth outlook to the IFCO family.

“We are excited to build upon Empacotecnia’s existing leadership position in the Colombian fresh food supply chain to deliver value for retailers, growers and producers. The acquisition will drive step change for IFCO’s RPC footprint in Latin America.”

Empacotecnia generated sales revenue of US$ 3.3 million and about six million RPC rentals in the 2015 calendar year, and is forecasting strong growth over coming years as it increases penetration with major retail partners and launches RPC products in new sectors.

Empacotecnia was founded in 2006 and is privately owned. It has seven service centers in Colombia and approximately 124 employees. The business serves major retailers Grupo Exito and Cencosud Colombia, as well as approximately 218 producers.

Additional Information

IFCO is the leading global provider of reusable packaging solutions, operating a pool of over 225 million Reusable Plastic Containers (RPCs) in 37 countries. IFCO RPCs are used primarily to transport fresh products from producers to leading grocery retailers worldwide. IFCO's solutions help retailers and producers reduce costs and increase sales by maximizing efficiency, product protection, sustainability, and safety throughout their supply chains. IFCO is a member of the Brambles family of companies. For more information, visit www.ifco.com.

About Brambles

Brambles Limited (ASX:BXB) is a supply-chain logistics company operating primarily through the CHEP and IFCO brands. Brambles enhances performance for customers by helping them transport goods through their supply chains more efficiently, sustainably and safely. The Group's primary activity is the provision of reusable unit-load equipment such as pallets, crates and containers for shared use by multiple participants throughout the supply chain, under a model known as "pooling". Brambles primarily serves customers in the fast-moving consumer goods (e.g. dry food, grocery, and health and personal care), fresh produce, beverage, retail and general manufacturing industries, counting many of the world's best-known brands among its customers. The Group also operates specialist container logistics businesses serving the automotive, aerospace and oil and gas sectors. Brambles has its headquarters in Sydney, Australia, but operates in more than 60 countries, with its largest operations in North America and Western Europe. Brambles employs more than 14,000 people and owns more than 500 million pallets, crates and containers through a network of approximately 850 service centres. For further information, please visit www.brambles.com.

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Contact information

IFCO
Hillary Femal
VP - Global Marketing
T: + 1 813 463 4124
F: + 1 813 286 2070
M: + 1 813 992 1470
Hillary.Femal@ifco.com