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May 03, 2023

Mondiale shipping giant teases IPO

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Oceania's biggest privately-owned freight forwarded could soon be publicly owned. Photo / NZ Herald

One of the world's top 30 freight forwarding companies, Mondiale VGL, is teasing an initial public offering (IPO) and sharemarket listing Down Under to fund its next phase of growth internationally.

"An IPO is one of several options on the table to support our expansion plans. However, no formal decisions have been made at this stage," chief executive Ray Meade told the Herald.

A listing would be subject to market conditions, he said.

Mondiale is the biggest privately-owned freight forwarder in Oceania, with revenue of $1.3 billion in 2021 after merging Mondiale Freight Services (NZ) with Australia's Visa Global Logistics (VGL).

The company moves approximately half a million 20-foot containers of sea freight and 21 million kilograms of air freight every year.

The company has 1500 staff across 39 offices in New Zealand, Asia, Europe and North America.

The group is still owned by shareholders of the two merged companies, including Mondiale founders John Sargent, Phil Bramwell and Grant Ryder.

Sargent was still on the board, as was VGL founder Vittorio Tarchi.

In 2020, Mondiale's founders sold half their stake to New Zealand's Direct Capital investment firm and the ACC, which now held the largest stake of 38.4 per cent according to Companies Office records.

The company's most recent move was acquiring Australian freight forwarder Customs Agency Services.

"Our goal is to build a significant global supply chain operation with its roots in the Asia-Pacific region," Meade said on Thursday.

"We are firmly on the path to achieving that."

This isn't the first time Meade has tickled retail investors with the prospect of going public - he mentioned it in early 2021 when it was merging with VGL.

He did not say this time if it was considering listing on the New Zealand or Australian stock exchanges, or elsewhere.

Mondiale VGL has appointed investment banks Jarden, UBS and Craigs Investment Partners to explore expansion options, including a potential listing, and would update the market in due course.

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