LURGAN haulage firm Sawyers has been acquired by a major American merchants group.
The company, which distributes chilled goods throughout Ireland, Britain and Europe has been bought by AGRO Merchants Group, based in Atlanta, Georgia.
The family run firm will continue to be operated by the Sawyers locally.
AGRO said the transaction included a number of Sawyers' subsidiaries.
The group's president in Europe Carlos Rodriguez said: “Sawyers is a family-owned business with an impressive drive, outstanding culture and customer service focus. We are honoured to welcome Sawyers into our network."
AGRO already owns distribution firm Castlecool based in Castleblaney, Co Monaghan.
"Sawyers will reinforce AGRO’s position in Ireland and the UK, combining their full distribution capabilities with Castlecool’s current footprint. This will allow us to extend our reach and support customers’ needs in conjunction with our European, US and South American operations," added Mr Rodriguez.
Sawyers managing director Derek Sawyers said the company was "proud to become part of the AGRO Merchants family".
"Their business philosophy and hands-on approach will allow our team to continue to focus on customer responsiveness and quality of service. We have interacted with the AGRO management and portfolio companies for more than nine months and believe that their culture and platform, combined capabilities, and expansion plans for Ireland and the UK will add significant value to our customers," he said.
Sawyers was set up in 1970 and began by delivering meal across the north before moving into the chilled sector in the 1980s.
Headquartered in Lurgan, the company has operations in Moy, Ballygawley and Swords, Dublin.
Subsidiaries and joint ventures include Woolsey Freight Limited, Sawyers Distribution Limited, Ballykeel Freight Limited, Sawyers Logistics Limited, Annesborough Cold Storage Limited, Sawyers Transport Ireland Limited and Browne Logistics Ireland Limited.
The group has expanded over the past 15 years to offer freight forwarding, warehousing, cold storage and value added services such as automated crate washing and order picking.
In its latest set of accounts filed with Companies House in Belfast, Sawyers posted increased turnover of £64.6 million for the 12 months to January 2014.
That resulted in a profit after tax of £4.3m.
The company said it employed 93 people over the period.
AGRO was founded in January 2013 with financial partner, Oaktree Capital Management.
The company currently owns and operates more than 4.2 million sq feet of temperature-controlled warehouse and distribution space in the US, Austria, Ireland, Spain, Brazil, Chile and the Netherlands.
It first ventured into Ireland in May 2014 when it took over Castecool.
AGRO stated it is "focused on providing innovative cold chain solutions on a global basis by partnering with the highest quality family-operated businesses and creating new, reliable, and integrated trade networks to help its customers grow".
