Wincanton has acquired 100% of the shares in Caledonia Bidco Limited, the holding company of Cygnia Logistics Limited (“Cygnia”), a mid-market e-commerce and multichannel eFulfilment provider, from Crescent Capital, to strengthen its e-commerce offer, according to Wincanton.
Founded in 1990, Cygnia has become a provider of supply-chain services and solutions to consumer-facing brands such as BrewDog, Moonpig, Molton Brown, Revolution Beauty, Whittard of Chelsea and Feelunique. Its services include high-volume order fulfilment, returns and carrier management services. The company has approximately 700 employees operating from four sites across the UK.
This acquisition is considered to be in line with Wincanton’s strategic focus on e-commerce and represents the Group’s latest investment in its growing Digital and e-fulfilment business division. It follows the Group’s investment earlier in 2021, in its automated e-fulfilment facility in Rockingham, Northamptonshire, to create additional capacity to drive growth.
Cygnia will continue to operate as a brand within the broader Wincanton Group. The acquisition will reportedly provide Cygnia with access to Wincanton’s scale and expertise, including the Rockingham facility, which will enable it to accelerate the pace of its growth.
Wincanton identified e-commerce as a key growth market and an area of strategic focus for the business. This transaction is thought to significantly enhance the Group’s e-commerce capabilities, and the addition of Cygnia’s complementary offer will provide Wincanton access to growth opportunities in the mid-market sector, according to Wincanton. Cygnia will join Wincanton’s Digital & e-fulfilment business division.
Separately, Wincanton is appointing Carl Moore as MD of Digital and e-fulfilment. Carl, who will take up his new role in January 2022, has spent the last 13 years in a range of senior roles with Clipper Logistics, most recently as Chief Commercial Officer.
James Wroath, CEO of Wincanton, said, “This acquisition is a significant step forward for our e-commerce proposition and I am delighted to welcome our new colleagues at Cygnia. This is a business with a fantastic reputation for supporting many of the UK’s most successful brands, underpinned by a focus on operational excellence which will complement Wincanton’s customer-focused approach. The transaction is perfectly aligned with our strategy to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the shift to online retail and will position us well to benefit from many of the changes we are seeing in the broader logistics sector. Wincanton has long been a leader in supporting many of the UK’s biggest brands and now, together with Cygnia, we will be able to further extend our reach to fast-growing, mid-market e-commerce customers.”
Glenn Lindfield, CEO of Cygnia, said, “We’re thrilled to be joining Wincanton, one of the UK’s leading supply chain specialists, so that we can continue to build on our partnerships with customers in the growing mid-market e-commerce market. This transaction brings together the scale and supply chain expertise of Wincanton with the agility and flexibility of the Cygnia business and will enable us to grow at pace in this important market.”
Source: Wincanton
