NewCold Grows Australian Footprint With Karras Acquisition

Melbourne, 3 November 2023: NewCold, the global leader in advanced food logistics, grows its footprint and offering to customers in Australia with the acquisition of refrigerated transport specialist Karras.

NewCold specialises in automated temperature-controlled storage, powered by proprietary technology, while Karras is renowned for excellence in refrigerated transport services. 

Bram Hage, NewCold Founder and CEO, said, "This strategic acquisition underpins our vision and ambition in Australia by strengthening the business and operating model. Combining Karras with our well-capitalised platform will strengthen our customer offering and promises an exciting future for our people, business, customers, and suppliers, in Australia."

Karras has built an impressive portfolio of customer partnerships across Australia's food and beverage sector. 

CEO of Karras, Karthi Karthigeyan, said: "I am delighted to continue to lead our dedicated team on this next chapter. This is a very exciting time for the Karras business and all our stakeholders. We are deeply committed to upholding our core values of complete customer satisfaction and focus on quality. This will enhance our capabilities and the integrated solutions that Karras will be able to offer its customers."

Founded in 2012, NewCold has grown rapidly across three continents - Europe, North America, and Australia. It launched its Australian operations six years ago in Victoria. Its two state-of-the-art temperature-controlled warehouses, in Melbourne, are closing in on a combined capacity of 327,800 pallet positions. NewCold is also investing AU$240 million to develop its first warehouse in Sydney. Karras Group Director and former CEO, Nick Vantas, said: "This transaction marks a significant milestone in our 47-year journey. We see NewCold as the natural and logical custodian for the enterprise in its next phase, given our shared commitment to delivering best-in-class cold chain solutions, as well as broadening capability and efficiencies for our much-valued customers." 

Karras was advised by Monash Advisory and MinterEllison, and NewCold by Hall & Wilcox.

ENDS

About NewCold

NewCold is a global leader in advanced food logistics, with 15 state-of-the-art automated and energy-efficient warehouses on three continents with over 1.2 million pallet positions. NewCold provides end-to-end supply chain solutions to leading food companies powered by innovative technology and backed by a team of 2,000 people.  

About Karras

Karras is a leading provider of integrated refrigerated transport, cold storage and logistics services. Founded in 1976 by Eddie Karras, the business has been built on the foundations of trust, excellence and accountability. As a result of these core values, the business has become the supply chain partner of choice for a vast array of food businesses across Australia over the past 47 years.

For press inquiries contact Marvin David Meintjies: communications.hq@newcold.com