Papendrecht (The Netherlands), Brussels (Belgium) – 16^th of August 2021 – Argos Wityu, a pan-European private equity fund has reached an agreement with Harry and Arjan Schenk to acquire a majority stake in the company that carries their name as its current shareholders. Via this investment, Argos will help the Schenk brothers to realize a stable shareholder and management transition for the company. The acquisition marks Argos’ first investment by Fund VIII and highlights the strong commitment Argos has towards ESG[1] in this Fund.

Since its inception in 1925 by the Schenk family, the company transformed from a sand and gravel transport company into a logistical partner specialized in complex gas and liquid logistical services. With Harry and Arjan Schenk, 3^rd generation, taking over the leadership by the end of the 1980s, the company diversified away from a pure road transporter of fuels into a logistical service provider for industrial gases, LNG, chemicals, fuels, lubricants, LPG, bitumen, and liquid food products which require complex handling requirements. In doing so, the group has already anticipated and included in its strategy for a number of years an increasing importance of sustainability and can now claim a market leading position in this respect. Both Argos and the Schenk brothers have taken up a strong commitment to continue to build upon and further enforce Schenk’s position as an enabler of a sustainable logistical world.

Schenk, strategically located in the heart of the ARRRA[2] region, has grown to an organization employing more than 1.600 employees and generating over €200m in revenues. Out of its offices in The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany, the company manages a dense network of last-mile connections serviced by a large fleet of 900 modern trucks and tank trailers, on top of providing intermodal services out of its Netherlands offices with its fleet of tank containers. Efficiency and outstanding quality has always been at the heart of Schenk’s services which has resulted in long-term customer relationships in all of its product segments.

Having successfully led the company for over 30 years, Harry and Arjan Schenk look forward to paving the way for a transition in a stable environment while continuing to grow the activity in current and new product segments and adding adjacent logistical services. Harry and Arjan have selected Argos Wityu for their experience in shareholder and management transitions in long-standing family businesses, their strong focus on ESG and to support the company in densifying its network organically and via an international buy-and-build program. They will retain a significant stake in the company and will continue in their roles as co-CEO to ensure continuity until a suitable successor has been identified. The transaction is still subject to the approval of the Dutch market authorities and the works council.

Harry Schenk, co-CEO and shareholder said: “We are convinced that we found a strong partner in Argos Wityu to maintain our market leading position while continuing to shape the ongoing consolidation in the market. Both put us in a strong position for the current energy transition and associated investments. With the help of Argos, we also want to continue to invest in the sustainability of our fleet in the coming years and to continue to provide our customers with the service they are accustomed to. We are delighted to be able to take this new step in the history of our family business together with Argos Wityu, the management team and our employees.”

Maarten Meijssen, Partner at Argos Wityu added “We have the utmost respect for the company and organization that Harry and Arjan have developed together with the management team and all employees of Schenk. They have always kept their eyes on long term trends while putting in place an organization that serves their clients with the highest level of quality every day. We feel privileged and consider it a big responsibility to join Harry and Arjan in making a successful transition and will do everything to continue to confirm the strong reputation that Schenk has today. For Argos, this is a unique opportunity to invest in a sustainable future of logistics.”

Argos Wityu team: Gilles Mougenot, Maarten Meijssen, Arne Louwagie, Julie Wouters

Buyer advisors

Legal – Houthoff (Bram Caudri, Ivar Brouwer, Britt Oerlemans)

Financial – Deloitte Transaction Advisory (Corjan Kuip, Bart Beemster, Jens Noppe)

Pension – Deloitte (Frans Heijs, Stella Evers)

Commercial – Arthur D. Little (Martijn Eikelenboom, Marc de Pater)

Tax – JSA Tax (NL) (Ronald Braxhoofden, Ronald van de Merwe, Anne Joritsma) / Finvision (BE) (Philip Haagdorens, Alix Stockman, Aurélie Godschalx) / GKK Partners (DE) (Dr. Michael Hoheisel, Maren Röhr)

Insurance – Aon (Richard Stemerdink, Ingrid van Bussel)

Environmental – Tauw (Hans Nieuwenhuis, Monica Martens)

Seller advisors

Sellside M&A advisor – Nielen Schuman (Ernst Berger, Joost Moelker, Joyce van Luit, Oscar Crolla, Steve Nugteren, Joep Houf)

Financial – PwC (Robert du Burck, Michiel Semeijn, Mathieu Cantarella)

Legal – Loyens & Loeff (Harmen Holtrop, Rob Schrooten, Roos van den Berg)

Debt advisory – Nielen Schuman (Ger van der Linden)

[1] Environmental, Social and Governance

[2] Antwerp Rotterdam Rhein Ruhr Area