ORBIS ADVISES EUROPEAN GROUP CSG ON ITS CONTINUED EXPANSION IN THE UK

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Customs Support Group is Europe’s leading provider of customs services employing more than 1,000 dedicated customs professionals serving over 10,000 customers annually. CSG have an extensive service offering and digital capability supporting customers in maximising regulatory compliance, achieving operational efficiencies, import duty optimisation; duty planning and ongoing development for a constantly shifting customs landscape. CSG is backed by Castik Capital, a leading European private equity investor that is supporting the long term consolidation strategy.

Established in 2014, UKCS is an AEO authorised customs broker with approximately 150 people based out of, Nottingham, Felixstowe, Glasgow and Dover. UKCS serve more than 1,000 customers ranging from large international companies to small and medium sized UK companies. Like Customs Support Group, UKCS supports clients in their customs formalities and helps them through the complexities of Brexit.

From its inauguration in 2001, OCS set out to provide the import/export community with a committed, independent, reliable and cost-effective customs clearance service. As the company received more complicated customs entries, and as an IT driven company, they targeted automation of customs processes. With the ability to cover all major UK ports and their wealth of knowledge and experience, OCS has become one of the go-to companies in the customs industry in the UK. In 2017 the company achieved AEO status, which underlined their premier status as a customs clearance agent. The company founder, Mr Gavin Osborn, has always committed to quality and speed of service since the outset of Osborn Customs Services.

Orbis Partners undertook a market mapping exercise to identify strategic acquisitions in the UK to enhance CSG’s offering. Orbis acted as the lead advisor on both deals, managing the projects from origination to completion.

I am delighted to have completed these transactions with CSG within a very quick timeframe from start to finish. The deals demonstrate once again how we can work effectively with our international partners at Clairfield to create cross border strategic opportunities.

UKCS significantly enhances CSG’s credential and presence within the rapidly changing UK customs market.

OCS is a great addition to CSG, bringing a wealth of customs knowledge in addition to recognising the efficiencies of IT in digitising the customs market.

Gary Ecob, Partner, Orbis

OUR ROLE

Orbis were retained by the company to identify strategic acquisition targets and advise on the transactions: Specifically, Orbis:

Worked with CSG to establish a clear acquisition criteria
Researched the whole market utilising our knowledge of the sector and research databases
Approached acquisition targets to assess their appetite for a transaction
Advised on valuation and formulation of an offer
Assisted in the managing the transaction process, including the management of due diligence providers
Helped to negotiate the key commercial aspects of the legal documents
Project managed the deal to completion, leading on all financial and commercial negotiations