Australian freight group Toll Holdings Limited has succeeded in gaining majority control of Hong Kong-based forwarder BALtrans Holdings Limited after its wholly-owned subsidiary Toll (BVI) Limited (Toll) received acceptances for 56.5 per cent of the issued shares.

The offers by Toll for BALtrans – which value the latter at A$365 million (US$314 million).

"The acquisition of BALtrans will strengthen the global freight forwarding network for the Toll group and is a key element of our Asian growth strategy," said Toll Holdings managing director Paul Little.

Toll is offering HK$7.60 per BALtrans share - 46.7 per cent above the average closing price of BALtrans shares for the 12 months immediately prior to and including 14 December 2007, the last trading day prior to the announcement of the offers - increasing to HK$7.75 per share if the compulsory acquisition condition under the terms of its offers is satisfied.

Toll has pursued an aggressive expansion policy in Southeast Asia and China through the purchase of Singapore-based Sembawang Kimtrans and SembCorp Logisitics and more recently BALtrans.

Schenker and BAX Global, the freight and logistics arm of German rail company Deutsche Bahn has begun construction on a new logistics hub at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). The nearly 19,000-square-meter DB Schenker facility for international air freight, as well as national supply and distribution is expected to begin operations later this year.

The new facility will almost double BAX Global and Schenker's existing capacity at DFW International Airport and will include 78 truck bays, state-of-the-art communications technology, an efficient infrastructure and security systems.

DFW International Airport is a strategic hub for DB Schenker in the US and distributes air freight originating in Asia and Europe throughout the central US, as well as consolidates freight from Texas and the Southwest, feeding it either to the North American distribution network or to the rest of the world. In February 2007 BAX Global and Schenker opened a new large-scale logistics hub featuring a 21,000 square-meter logistics facility at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

CEVA Logistics - the global contract logistics and freight management group created from the merger of the former TNT Logistics and Eagle Global Logistics (EGL) - has announced plans to invest €6 million on a distribution centre in Brazil during the first half of this year. Th is is in addition to its main Distribution Centre (DC), in Jundia¨ª, in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Th is new addition will double the size of the location, giving it 25 thousand square meters for storing electronics, consumer goods, and office supplies.

At the Jundia¨ª DC, CEVA carries out reception, storage, shipping, and transport management activities for customers like Nivea, ABN Amro, and Philips. Currently, the site has a 10 thousand pallet position capacity; following the expansion the capacity will grow 110 per cent, the group said.

The DC will meet the requirements for TAPA certification, which was created for the technology industry with the aim of promoting security throughout the supply chain.

"CEVA has set a growth target of 10 per cent for 2008 and in order to reach this number, the company needs to off er the infrastructure and solutions for increasing business possibilities to our current and future customers," said Paulo Franceschini, business development director for CEVA Logistics South America.

The customers served by the DC in Jundia¨ª were responsible for 3 per cent of CEVA's global turnover for 2007 and once the expansion is complete the company expects to grow this figure to 6 per cent.

CEVA has also been selected to take over production line feeding for the new Volkswagen SUV (sports utility vehicle) Tiguan serial production at Auto 5000 in Wolfsburg, Germany, extending an already ongoing relationship with Volkswagen for its Touran SUV model.

Dubai-based express, freight forwarding and logistics service provider Aramex has reported what it says is "the company¡¯s best year yet," following the recent release of financial results for 2007.

For the year ending 31 December 2007, net profit rose by 28 per cent to AED 121.6 million ($32.1 million) on the baoramlck of a 31 per cent year-on-year jump in revenue of AED 1,784 million (US$485.8 million).

"We can confidently say that 2007 was Aramex¡¯s best year ever," said the company¡¯s founder and CEO, Fadi Ghandour. "We grew in size, reach, capability and reputation. And we did it in a thoughtful, measured and sustainable manner that will enable us to continue leveraging our strengths as we move boldly into 2008."

Although benefiting from current outsourcing trends across the region, the company was able to win major logistics contracts in 2007 by diversifying its offering, according to the group.

Key infrastructure investments across the Middle East also enabled the company to grow its profitable logistics business and strategic acquisitions in Singapore and Indonesia have extended the company¡¯s reach across lucrative emerging markets.