C.H. Robinson buys Spanish freight forwarder for $48 million

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. has paid $48 million to acquire Barcelona-based international freight forwarder The Space Cargo Group.

The Eden Prairie-based logistics company announced the all-cash deal Friday. Space Cargo has 2,500 active customers, 170 employees, and seven offices in Spain and one in Colombia. It brought in $84 million in revenue in the fiscal year ending Dec. 31.

“The acquisition of Space Cargo advances our strategy of expanding our presence globally,” said Bob Biesterfeld, incoming CEO of C.H. Robinson, in a news release. “We continue to look for ways to capitalize on the opportunity to grow globally, in part by acquiring leading local providers that share our commitment of best-in-class service and execution.”

C.H. Robinson has been beefing up its freight-forwarding business in recent years. In 2017, it acquired Canadian freight forwarder Milgram & Co. Ltd. for about $50 million.

Freight forwarders manage shipments of goods and match businesses with transportation-services providers. Consolidation among freight-forwarding companies has been common practice of late, as part of an effort to expand their global reach and offer a broader range of services to customers.

C.H. Robinson is Minnesota's eighth-largest public company. It reported about $14.9 billion in revenue in fiscal year 2017.

Biesterfeld was tapped in early February to take over for longtime chief executive John Wiehoff. He officially begins in the new role in May. He sat for an interview with the Business Journal last month.