Baggage handler and newspaper distributor John Menzies has bought the biggest parcels delivery firm in the Highlands for £7.5 million in cash.
AJG Parcels, founded in 1992 by Adrian Gray, handles more than three million parcels a year in the Highlands and Islands and Menzies said the acquisition would offer opportunities to “scale the business across our wider network”.
Edinburgh-based Menzies said its Distribution division currently deals with more than 100 million deliveries a year and the firm is keen to grab a share of the growing market for online parcels “by better utilising our asset base during daylight hours”.
Chief executive Jeremy Stafford said: “This acquisition allows us to collaborate with the national carriers and use our existing footprint, in the more hard-to-reach territories, to act as a cost effective neutral delivery and collection agent.”
Stafford said more details about the group’s strategy for its Distribution arm will be revealed when it reports half-year results in August.