Allport's new group managing director Chris Cargill.

UK logistics company Allport is merging with CS Logistics Holdings Ltd, the parent company of Cargo Services Far East Ltd, one of the most successful logistics operators in Hong Kong and China.

Allport was founded almost 50 years ago by Will Toye and John Clayton who are retaining a minority stake in the new venture. CS Logistics was founded in 1990 by John Lau and now has 28 offices in Hong Kong and China, with over 4,200 staff. Lau will have a stake in the merged business.

Toye says it is a natural progression for the two companies to merge. "We greatly value the strong partnership we have built with Lau and his team and believe this is the best way to continue growing the company and the business we have developed together."

The companies have worked together for 20 years, having established the Far East Cargo Line NVOCC network, set up joint ventures in South Africa and Asia and now servicing clients in Australia, New Zealand, South America, North America, the Middle East and the UK.

The restructured business, which will continue to operate under the two existing names, manages over 700,000 sea container movements annually around the globe and operates air freight services and pre-retail origin logistics.

The new venture will have over 5,500 employees in more than 70 offices worldwide. There are no redundancies resulting from the merger.

The Allport senior management team has implemented its succession planning with current group managing director and deputy group managing director Derek Davis and Danny Toye moving to non-executive roles.

Chris Cargill is Allport's new group managing director, while Jerry Gray is the deputy group managing director.

Allport's two original founders, together with Cargill and Gray, will retain a 10% stake in the company while HSBC has become a strategic financial partner of the group.

Headquartered in Cowley, Middlesex, Allport Group Limited, commonly referred to as Allport, is the largest privately held freight forwarder in the UK, turning over GBP219 million (USD341.7 million) in 2009.