WFS to buy majority stake in Fraport Cargo

When Platinum Equity purchased Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) last month, its intention was to grow and expand in the European market and elsewhere in the world. Now, WFS has signed an agreement to acquire 51 percent of Fraport Cargo Services (FCS), the cargo handling service at Frankfurt Airport for the past 40 years.

The transaction, terms of which have not been disclosed by either party, is expected to close in September. Fraport AG, the airport owner, will retain its 49 percent share of subsidiary FCS.

FCS is the largest independent cargo service provider at Frankfurt Airport, serving international airlines and logistics companies at the company’s freight terminals at FRA’s CargoCitySouth. Last year, cargo and mail traffic through Frankfurt rose 1.89 percent to approximately 2.1 million tonnes. FCS has more than 600 cargo handling professionals at CargoCitySouth.

WFS, founded in 1971, employs 14,000 staff, spread out at over 145 major airports in more than 22 countries, handling an estimated 4 million tonnes of cargo each year for 300 airline customers. In addition to this pending acquisition, last month WFS was awarded full ground-handling licenses to operate at Spain’s Madrid, Seville, Santiago, Oviedo and Vitoria airports.