GAC boosts presence in the Baltic Sea region with acquisition of leading Finnish ship agency

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6 September 2010 - The GAC GroupGAC Group has strengthened its Baltic Sea region coverage with the amicable acquisition of leading Finnish ship agent, John Nurminen Navis Oy (JNN).

JNN is the leading ship agency in Finland and a subsidiary of the John Nurminen Group, handling annually up to 3,000 ship calls at all major Finnish commercial seaports, directly through its own offices, in Helsinki (head office), Porvoo, Kotka, Turku, Naantali and Rauma and the company's comprehensive network of sub-agencies.

Under the agreement signed on 31 August 2010 by Lars Säfverström, GAC GroupGAC Group President and Jan Lönnblad, Managing Director of John Nurminen Oy, the company is now rebranded as GACGAC- Nurminen Navis Oy.

Baltic development
Erland Ebbersten, GAC GroupGAC Group Vice President - Europe, Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Sea, and Africa, says JNN's standing in the local market and strong client-base of major international and domestic shipping and chartering principals made it an ideal candidate for acquisition to help drive GACGAC's development strategy in the Baltic Sea region.

"JNN is strongly represented in key sectors such as oil tankers, chemical carriers, dry bulk, and cruise ships," he adds. "These are all areas where GACGAC is strong globally, so this acquisition makes perfect sense to help us continue to thrive in the long term."

History
John Nurminen Oy was established in Rauma in 1886 and its diverse business interests span currently from fine art logistics services, nautical charts sales, property development, ship agency services in Finland, and cleantech venture capital investing. Its ship agency arm JNN is one of the top three ship agencies in Finland in terms of market share.

Greater benefits
Jan Lönnblad believes that this latest milestone in JNN's history will offer even greater benefits for its customers and staff: "From John Nurminen's point of view, it made good business sense to join JNN with GACGAC, based on the Group's global reach, financial strength and international reputation. By combining our rich legacy of shipping services and local ship agency expertise and experience with GACGAC's global strength and resources, we can offer even more to our existing and potential clients."

Lars Säfverström adds that the two companies share the same corporate values: "GACGAC and JNN have much in common, making this new partnership a great match. That compatibility will be vital in facilitating the smooth integration of this icon of the Finnish shipping community into the GACGAC global network - to the benefit of all our customers."

Management team
GACGAC-Nurminen Navis Oy's management team consists of Svante Eriksson (Managing Director), Jyrki Lehti (Regional Manager, West Coast operations) and Ilkka Holmroos (Regional Manager, East Coast operations),

Svante Eriksson is looking forward to capturing synergic benefits of the acquisition to the company´s client-base and also to bring additional value to the GACGAC ship agency community: "GACGAC's acquisition of JNN will certainly strengthen our position as the leading ship agency service provider in Finland, and opens up interesting possibilities for the future services we can offer our current and prospective clients. I also believe, in addition to our known brand and highly professional team of agents and backoffice personnel, that our principal focused customized IT-solutions will be of great value to the GACGAC ship agency community in general."

Expanding presence
The addition of Finland to the GACGAC network boosts the Group's growing presence also in the Nordic region, which has steadily grown since its majority stake acquisition of Ole R Olsen in Norway in 2007, followed by an alliance formed with Pole Position AS in Spitsbergen last year and the opening of new offices in Bergen and Sandnessjoen during 2010.

That strong presence in the region enables GACGAC to meet a growing range of client needs, particularly those in the oil and gas sector where the search for new sources is continuing to progress further north.

-Ends-

About GACGAC Group
GACGAC managers and staff emphasize human dignity as a core value in their operating philosophy. They value long-term relationships with business partners, customers and suppliers and seek win-win solutions to the challenges of modern business. GACGAC's 9000 people are found in more than 300 offices worldwide and speak more than 100 languages. Headquartered in Dubai, the Group is local in action and global in attitude.

Since its establishment by Swedish transport interests in 1956, GACGAC has grown to become a leading global provider of shipping, logistics, marine and related services. For more information, visit www.gac.com.

About GACGAC Shipping
GACGAC Shipping is a global leader in ship and hub agency services. It represents more than 3,500 Principals and handles more than 50,000 vessels annually. In addition to ship/hub agency services, GACGAC Shipping is an experienced provider of bunker supplies, ship-to-ship Transfers (with GACGAC Marine), canal transits and ship supply services. It also acts as correspondent for most International Group P&I Clubs.

For more information, please contact
GACGAC Group
Esther Oon-Bybjerg
Group Director Corporate Communications
DID: +65 6327 9612 ext. 20
Fax: +65 6836 0113
Email: esther.oon-bybjerg@gac.com

Headline Public Relations
Sheetal Borge
Tel: +9714-2289 655 Ext217
Fax: +9714-2282125
Email: sheetal@headlinepr.com

© Press Release 2010