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Joint Venture Positions UPS for Growth in Middle East, Turkey and Central Asia

Dépèche transmise le 26 juin 2009 par Business Wire

Joint Venture Positions UPS for Growth in Middle East, Turkey and Central Asia

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UPS (NYSE:UPS) announced a new joint venture headquartered in Dubai to coordinate management and growth of UPS express package, freight forwarding and contract logistics services across the Middle East, Turkey and portions of Central Asia.

UPS will have a majority stake in the new joint venture that will acquire the small package operations of Unsped Paket Servisi San ve Ticaret A.S., its existing service agent in Turkey. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed. Leadership of the new venture will come from Unsped CEO Haluk Undeger, who has grown the operation in Turkey to be UPS’s largest service contractor. Undeger will also own a minority share in the new joint venture. Closing is expected to occur in the next 30 days, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions.

“This emerging area covers trade to and from 21 countries* where UPS is experiencing increased demand,” said Dan Brutto, president of UPS International. “We’re tapping the business acumen Haluk Undeger has shown over the past 20 years in his relationship with UPS. This joint venture will spearhead growth among our other service agents and operations in these countries. This part of the world has become a transportation bridge and ideal near-sourcing location for Europe, Russia and Asia.”

Revenues for Unsped have increased over 18 percent on a compounded annual growth rate for the past three years. The nearly 2,500 employees of Unsped will continue to be managed by the Turkish leadership team and become part of the joint venture. Unsped systems in Turkey already link with UPS back-end processing to provide global visibility for customers.

Increased UPS attention in this larger region also will further UPS’s opportunity with the growing oil and natural gas industry sector.

This joint venture follows the announcement earlier this year of expanded UPS domestic express small package pickup and delivery services offered in Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a single technology platform. Shipping processes and information visibility for all domestic and international package delivery services in these countries has been streamlined.

UPS first entered the Middle East in 1987 when it established import operations in Bahrain. The company expanded to offer a comprehensive service portfolio combining local expertise through service contractors and joint ventures within countries, initiating service in Turkey through Unsped in 1988. In 2004, Dubai, UAE, became an important gateway for “around-the-world” flights between Europe and Asia to link major business regions and leverage the UPS global network for sorting and bypass operations in the most efficient manner.

UPS (NYSE: UPS) is the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain and freight services. With more than a century of experience in transportation and logistics, UPS is a leading global trade expert equipped with a broad portfolio of solutions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The company can be found on the Web at UPS.com. To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS.

* Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.