<p>Six months of careful negotiation with five family-run road freight operators was what it took to create the loose alliance now called Silk Logistics, managing director Bob Welsh said yesterday (Monday May 19).</p> <p>The five – Hoffmann Transport, WA Freight Group, Bunker Freight Lines, Kagan Logistics and Doolan’s Heavy Haulage – represented an even spread of specialities, Mr Welsh, who left BP Logistics two years ago, said.</p> <p>Silk’s role would be to co-ordinate the firms to take on contracts too large for a single operator, but otherwise the firms would retain their own identities.</p> <p>Mr Welsh admitted Silk was represented heavily in the southern states, especially around the port of Melbourne but said that this would change in time.</p> <p>Gresham Partners, an arm of unlisted private equity firm Gresham Investment House, created Silk in early April and had approached Mr Welsh after he had left BP, to run it.</p> <p>Gresham has been involved with several heavyweight mergers and takeovers recently, including advising BG on Origin Energy, BHP Billiton on Rio Tinto and Wesfarmers on Coles.</p> <p>On the transport front, it advised on the sale of Australian Railroad Group to Babcock & Brown Ltd and Queensland Rail and, earlier, on the acquisition of the Western Australian Government’s Westrail Freight Business.</p> <p>It also advised Finemores on the Toll group’s successful takeover bid.</p> <br />
