Local freight company sells out to major industry player

Founded in 1976, family-owned Customs Agency Services (CAS) has grown to become South Australia’s the largest international freight forwarding and logistics provider,  specialising in solutions for the defence, aerospace, and e-commerce sectors.

The sale to Sydney-headquartered Mondiale VGL, for an undisclosed sum, was announced this morning.

Cowandilla-based CAS was ranked No. 63 in InDaily’s 2021 South Australian Business Index, up from 77 in 2020.

Directors Louise Rigoni and Mark Callus, who joined their parents in the business in 1984, will retain a minority stake and continue in their current roles along with their team.

In a statement today, Callus and Rigoni said the partnership with Mondiale VGL represented the opportunity to continue to run the business as a stand-alone division of the broader group under the existing Customs Agency Services brand and team.

“This is an inflection point for our business, enabling us to accelerate our growth ambitions with a highly regarded national provider that is recognised as the largest, privately-owned international freight forwarding and logistics company in our region,” they said in the statement.

“Fundamentally, we believe that scale in logistics has become a critical factor in remaining relevant and competitive in our industry – becoming a part of the Mondiale VGL Group will bring significant scale and capability to our operations in Australasia and globally.

“This is good news for our customers who will benefit from greater access to contested space for both sea and air cargo with access to a full suite of integrated services providing them even greater control and visibility of their supply chain.”

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CAS will continue to work with its Defence customers as its accreditations, and its contribution to the Australian Industry Capability Plan (AIC) remain unchanged.

Mondiale VGL has a presence in every mainland Australian state and in New Zealand and a global network of more than 70 offices and 200 agents servicing trade lanes across Southeast Asia, China, Europe, and the US to and from Australasia.

The group currently handles over 500,000 containers and 25 million kilograms of air freight per annum, employing more than 1500 people globally.

Mondiale VGL CEO Ray Meade said the Customs Agency Services business would consolidate the group’s national footprint and give it access to the highly strategic Defence and eCommerce industry verticals.

“Having worked with Customs Agency Services in various forms for more than a decade, we have a deep respect for its people and the customer-centric focus embedded throughout the business