Logistics firms merge

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Netlog Lojistik and Farmakim Lojistik are forming a joint company to develop refrigerated storage units. Company photo

Turkish logistics sector company Netlog Lojistik and pharmaceutical logistics firm Farmakim İla Lojistik have joined forces to develop a new pharmaceutical logistics service firm and make joint investments to modernize the sector, according to a company press release.

The partnership’s first investment is slated to be a 20,000 cubic-meter refrigerated storage unit for pharmaceutical and personal hygiene products, located in Gebze in northwestern Turkey. Another refrigerated 20,000 cubic-meter storage unit will open on Istanbul’s European side in 2013.

Netlog will have a 60 percent stake in the newly formed join company, and Farmakim will hold 40 percent. The company will be geared towards forming a chain of refrigerated storage units, which are intended to reinvigorate pharmaceutical sector.

The company’s goal is much greater than a simple logistics operation, and it has a team of professionals who can sniff out future trends in the global pharmaceutical market and assess future needs, Farmakim Chair Hail Yaşar said in the press release.

“Our goal is to be proactive and to provide forward-looking firms with the services that they require. By getting Netlog on board, we will be able to benefit from their refrigerated logistics know-how and infrastructure and reach goals that we would not have been able to achieve alone,” said Yaşar.

Netlog was established in 2003 and has 51 storage units, more than 3,000 employees and over 2,000 transportation vehicles. It provides logistics services to a variety of industries including the textile, automotive, chemical, pharmaceutical and technology sectors. Farmakim, a newer company, was established in 2006.