Sydney-focused acquisition will help Doble expand its state-wide speciality, management says
New South Wales freight company Doble Express Transport has expanded its business across Sydney with the acquisition of JLS Express, in a move it says will help it build a position as a specialist for the state.
Doble general manager Matt Collier says the acquisition will see it combine JLS’s network reach across the metropolitan area with its own, with the merged company to retain JLS’s depots in Canberra and Newcastle.
“We’re now the premier road transport provider in the state and I’m excited for what this means for our customers, staff, and suppliers,” Collier says.
“Through this acquisition we’re now in the position to expand to better meet customers’ needs – this is the next step of our growth strategy and it’s a win for customers.”
Collier added that he saw the opportunity to branch out into new areas in NSW as a dedicated express transport state specialist, following Followmont’s acquisition of Towers Transport and Border Express’s acquisition of Rossfreight.
“We have no plans to go outside the borders or boundaries of NSW – we see that as our market, and that is what we want to dominate,” he says.
JLS MD Jason McHenry will remain with the combined company for a period of time as a consultant, saying in a statement the two groups had a similar ambition for the combined firm.
“We have always supported each other in our core areas and found the business philosophies were very similar, so I knew that combining them would mean a greater experience for our customer and allow us to realise our vision of being NSW’s premier transport company,” McHenry says.
NSW expansion planned
Doble MD Mitch Doble will lead the business through the transition as the company integrates JLS’s systems and processes with its own, with Collier saying the company’s biggest goal for the next 12 months was to expand its footprint into new areas.
“Our ultimate focus is to be able to do an end to end delivery within our own fleet right throughout NSW,” he says.
This would start with an expansion to Wollongong in “the very near future”, and then the upper North Coast of NSW within the next 12 months.
“There is lots of growth in NSW in particular areas, whether that is from industries such as mining and so forth, but we have seen some large growth in the Central West and Riverina as population continues to grow in those areas,” Collier says.
“As our regional towns continue to grow, we see our business as providing specialist service into regional NSW.”