ABOUT UNITRANS
COMPANY HISTORY
1962: The story begins
UK based United Transport Company was incorporated in South Africa and acquired the already established Thorntons Transport, a large freight company quoted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.In the same year, Greyhound Bus Lines, which operated a fleet of buses, was acquired.
1963 – 1967: Acquisitions
A number of freight transportation company acquisitions were made.1967: Expansion
One of the greatest single years of expansion of particularly the passenger business.1968 – 1986: Freight and passenger growth
Significant growth of the business in both freight and passenger services.1987: Name change
The passenger business operating as Unitrans Passenger Transport was sold to Tollgate Holdings. United Freight Transport changed it's name to Unitrans Limited, and the name of it's subsidiaries was changed to incorporate the word Unitrans.In October Unitrans Limited was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
1993: New beginnings
The group returned to passenger transportation with the acquisition of Greyhound Coach Lines from the Tollgate Group. Unitrans Motors was established.1993: Unitrans Freight
Unitrans Freight and Alpha Cement (Pty) Ltd established a joint venture, Klipstone Transport.1994: Finance formed
Unitrans Leasing was formed to finance vehicle sales.1995: Bus and Coach
Matthysen Bus Transport was acquired and renamed Mega Bus and Coach.1998: New acquisitions
Unitrans acquired one of the three largest national distributors of motor vehicles, Malbak Motor Holdings, which was renamed Unitrans Motors.Unitrans Finance, a provider of consumer credit, was launched. Uinsure, the in-house insurance operation, was licensed.
It provides re-insurance for products sold by the motor division.
1999: UPS acquired
In March 1999 the group acquired all the shares in a company that is the authorised service provider for UPS (United Parcel Service, Inc.), the largest express delivery company in the world. The company has been renamed Unitrans Express Deliveries.1999: Acquisitions
Freight acquired Garden Route Carriers.2000: Acquisitions
Freight acquired Stoneshack and Grover Transport, and sugar division acquired J & B Harvesters.2000: Global Logistics
Unitrans Global Logistics, a fledgling logistics company, gave the group entry into the fourth party logistics arena, providing new opportunities and possibilities to further serve the group's existing customer base.2000: Roadway Logistics
Unitrans and Steinhoff Africa (Pty) Limited formed a joint venture company, Roadway Logistics. This joint venture entered into an agreement to purchase Roadway Transport's furniture and household goods' transport division. The joint venture provides transport and distribution services for the furniture and household goods industry.2000: Hertz Rent A Car
Motors acquired a 40% shareholding in Hertz Rent A Car's southern African operations. The other shareholder is New Africa Investments Limited, which has 60%. Hertz Rent A Car is a leading international car rental brand, and the fourth largest car rental in South Africa.2001: Acquisitions
Freight acquired: Prolog Transport, a company involved in road transportation of timber, silviculture and timber harvesting;Commercial division acquired Pivot Transport, a company that offers breakbulk transportation haulage and distribution; and
A further acquisition was the non-household distribution and transport arm of Roadway Transport (Pty) Limited.
2002: BEE Mvelaphanda
Unitrans entered into agreements with Mvelaphanda, the leading black owned and managed investment company, in terms of which Mvelaphanda acquired a 25% stake in Fuel and Chemical (Pty) Limited, and a 25% stake in Unitrans Express Deliveries.2002: Unitrans Fuel and Chemical
Unitrans Fuel and Chemical acquired Gasfreight, a company transporting industrial gases for Total Fina Elf. It also acquired E&G Trucking, which is expanding the lubrication wholesale and distribution business.2002: Unitrans Freight
The Timber Haulage Trust was acquired by Freight and provides selected logistical services to sawmills in KwaZulu-Natal. MDS Couriers (Botswana), was also acquired building on the successful acquisition of the Pivot Transport business in breakbulk haulage.2002: Unitrans Motors
Seven dealerships were acquired from Senwes Limited by Unitrans Motors.2002: Roadway Logistics
Roadway Logistics, specialising in the provision of logistical services to the furniture and household industry, established the Retail Distribution Centre (RDC). The RDC is an innovative warehousing and distribution centre that delivers goods ordered from the retailer directly to the end user.2003: Freight acquisitions
Three "stump-to-mill" timber acquisitions were made during this year in KwaZulu-Natal. They have been successfully integrated into the existing operations.2003: Unitrans Fuel and Chemical
A long-term contract was signed with Shell for transport services valued at over R400 million over seven years and requiring the provision of over 50 fuel tankers.2003: Unitrans Passenger
Greyhound introduces a new economy service, Citiliner, aimed at the more cost conscious city-to-city traveller.2003: Unitrans Freight
Unitrans Freight contracted with African Explosives Limited to become its third party logistics service provider.2004: Unitrans Supply Chain
Unitrans acquired the 50% stake in UPS LG (SA) (Pty) Ltd previously held by UPSLG BV. The company has been renamed Unitrans Supply Chain. All existing contracts and staff were retained.2004: Aramex
Unitrans acquired the Aramex licence to replace the UPS courier services franchise.2004: UniViron
A 50/50 joint venture was established between Unitrans Freight (Environmental Services) and Windworth Holdings. The JV, Univiron, provides admin and transport services to Re-Ethical Environment Re-Engineering, a waste disposal business.2004: Klipstone
Klipstone Transport has admitted a BEE partner, Magnificent Mile Trading 35, which has taken a 26% shareholding in that company. The restructured shareholding is now Unitrans Freight 64%, Holcim 10% and magnificent Mile 26%.2004: New Shareholding Structure
Steinhoff Africa to become Unitrans' major shareholder, subject to Competition Commission approval, following which it will hold a 60,8% shareholding.2004: NTI Contract
The NTI contract for commuter bus transport in the Rustenburg area, operated by Bojanala Bus (Pty) Ltd, commenced in October 2004. Unitrans Passenger (Pty) Ltd currently has an effective 49% shareholding.2004: Contract to the coal mining industry
Nomakanjani Logistics Company (Pty) Ltd commenced the provision of transport services under contract to the coal mining industry in South Africa on 1 July 2004.2004: Shares issue to Fundiswa
The allotment and issue of 11 600 000 shares for cash to Fundiswa Investments (Pty) Ltd, took place on 4 October 2004, at R25,04 per share.2005: Purchase of M&R stake in Unitrans
Unconditional approval was received from the Competition Authorities on 12 January 2005 for the purchase of M&R's shareholding in Unitrans by Steinhoff International Holdings Limited. Steinhoff now holds at 60,8% shareholding in the Unitrans group.2005: Forestry operations
The Forestry operations were transferred to Unitrans Sugar and Agriculture.2005: Hertz Rent a Car
Unitrans Motors (Pty) Ltd purchased New Africa Investments Limited’s 60% equity in Alisa Holdings (Pty) Ltd, trading as Hertz Rent a Car South Africa.2005: Roadway Logistics (Pty) Ltd
Unitrans acquired the entire shareholdings in Roadway Logistics (Pty) Ltd, formerly a 50/50 joint venture with Steinhoff Africa (Pty) Ltd.2005: Top Transport
Roadway Logistics (Pty) Ltd acquired a 60% shareholding in Top Transport, trading as MD Vervoer, a Cape Town based company.2005: Greyhound Coach Lines – 21 years
Greyhound Coach Lines celebrated 21 years of intercity long distance transport.2005: Unitrans Logistics UK Limited
Unitrans Logistics UK Limited acquired two specialist logistics businesses in the United Kingdom - Concorde Logistics Services Limited and TechXpress Limited. Concorde provides Field Service Logistics, Project Logistics and Specialist Transport. TechXpress is well known for its success in major IT roll-outs for financial institutions.Unitrans UK Limited, in which Unitrans has a 75% shareholding and Steinhoff Europe AG holds the balance of 25%, has a 60% equity in Unitrans Logistics UK
2006: Unitrans Supply Chain Solutions
The existing operations of Unitrans Freight, Fuel and Chemical, Sugar and Agriculture, and Roadway Logistics have been grouped together under a new division, Unitrans Supply Chain Solutions. A new function, Customer Solution Development, has also been formed and is included similarly in this new division.2006: African Express (Proprietary) Limited
The group disposed of its 60% in Botswana registered company, African Express (Proprietary) Limited. This disposal was in line with the group's decision to exit from the express courier business.2007: Unitrans Holdings (Pty) Ltd
On 19 February 2007, a newly incorporated subsidiary within the Steinhoff International Group (now known as Unitrans Holdings (Pty) Ltd) made an offer to Unitrans Limited to acquire from Unitrans its entire business as a going concern. At that date, Steinhoff Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd held 60,76% of the issued share capital of Unitrans Limited.2007: Unitrans Limited general meeting
At a general meeting of shareholders of Unitrans Limited held on 13 April 2007 resolutions were passed relating to a) the disposal by the company of its entire business as a going concern to Steinhoff; b) a distribution of the Unitrans loan account claim arising as a result of the disposal, to Unitrans shareholders on 25 May 2007; c) the termination of the company's listing on the JSE Limited with effect from Tuesday 29 May 2007; and d) the voluntary winding up of the company. The group's operations now fall under Unitrans Holdings (Pty) Ltd.2007: INDUNA TIPPERS
Unitrans entered into a joint venture with SPGIO for the haulage of almost two million tons of waste material arising from the construction phase of the Gautrain Rapid Rail Link. SPGIO is the business development arm of SPG, a BEE company, with a 25% stake in the Bombela Concession company. SPGIO has a 50,5% shareholding in Induna Tippers, the company set up to manage the load and haulage, and Unitrans has a 49,5% shareholding.2006 – 2008: CUSTOMER SOLUTION DEVELOPMENT/UNITRANS FREIGHT AND LOGISTICS
A number of successful contracts were secured and implemented over this period, and included BP, Castrol, De Beers, Dulux, Vector Logistics, Pioneer Foods, Anchor Yeast, Assmang and NPC Cimpor.2008: SETJHABA CARRIERS
Unitrans entered into a contract with the De Beers Group for the load and haul services at the De Beers Kimberley mine. Setjhaba Carriers, a BEE joint venture between Unitrans and Magnificent Mile, was created to run the contract. Magnificent Mile has a 15% stake in Setjhaba Carriers.Unitrans employees working with Setjhaba will own 10% through a staff trust, and the Mme Reke Thusa Trust will have a 5% shareholding. The balance of the shareholding will be held by Unitrans Supply Chain Solutions.
2008: UNITRANS FREIGHT AND LOGISTICS
Unitrans Freight and Logistics entered into a contract with Exxaro KZN Sands for load and haul services.2008: BUFFALO FREIGHT
Unitrans added this global freight management and logistics services company to its stable, complementing its existing range of supply chain services.2008: UNITRANS FUEL AND CHEMICAL
Unitrans secured significant contracts with BP and Chevron in Botswana.
