Abbey Logistics has bought the complete share capital of bulk liquid food operator Armet Logistics, creating a business with a combined turnover of £70m.  

Based two miles from Abbey’s Liverpool HQ, Armet has a fleet of 90 liquid tankers, which will give the combined business a liquid tanker fleet of 280, as well as 400 tractor units.

In its most recent results for the year ended 28 February 2015, Armet recorded turnover of £11.4m and pre-tax profit of £676,000.

Combined, the businesses will generate a predicted £70m turnover in 2017/18, with a target to hit £100m turnover by 2021.

It also aims to have added a further 300 employees to its current combined 700.

The move comes after Abbey Logistics group chief executive Steve Granite led a management buyout of the business last August.

Granite told Motortransport.co.uk that Armet Logistics will eventually be brought under the Abbey Logistics brand, but that there was no rush to make this happen.

“It’s business as usual at the moment. We want to spend some time familiarising ourselves with the businesses.

“Our priority is to not disrupt service, so we’re doing a soft integration. Maybe around the middle of the year, if we feel comfortable enough, then we’ll bring both companies under the Abbey brand,” he said.

He added that Abbey Logistics would eventually move its HQ to Armet’s site, which will undergo an upgrade in the coming months.

Armet Logistics MD Charles Lucy, who worked with Granite at Abbey between 1995 and 2000, will remain with the business as a director.

Granite said the acquisition of Armet was part of the growth plan outlined during the MBO, and added that there may be more acquisitions on the horizon for Abbey Logistics.

He said: “There’s definitely still an appetite for acquisition if the right company comes along.”

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