GAC Travel Becomes Part of Bibby Travel

Bibby Travel revealed that the company has acquired GAC Travel Limited with effect from 1st March this year.

The deal will see GAC Travel integrated within Bibby Travel, which is a trading division of Bibby Ship Management (Western Europe) Ltd.

Welcoming the deal, Ed Rimmer, Chief Executive Officer, Bibby Ship Management Group, said: “We’re delighted with this acquisition as it underlines our commitment to both the marine and business travel markets both at a large corporate and at an SME level. We would like to welcome Joanne Vicente, General Manager of GAC Travel and her team onboard and look forward to working with them in the months ahead.”

The similarities of operations with GAC and the current Bibby Travel should lend itself to a smooth transfer, Mr Rimmer added.

Commenting on the deal, General Manager Joanne Vicente added: “GAC Travel and Bibby Ship Management are a good fit and will now be able to concentrate strongly on the corporate and conference sectors as well as the important marine and offshore crew travel markets. Bibby Travel will continue operating from the GAC UK Ltd premises in Stockton on Tees.”

Ivo Verheyen, GAC Group Vice President, Europe, adds: “The sale of GAC Travel is part of GAC UK’s long term strategy to focus on its core Shipping and Logistics capabilities, especially in the energy sector. We’re pleased that the Travel team remaining in GAC UK’s Teesside & Aberdeen locations means that we will be able to maintain our relationships with our former colleagues while continuing to benefit from their expertise.”

The acquisition now means that Bibby Travel has offices in Aberdeen, Liverpool, Isle of Man, Mumbai and Teesside and significantly expands the resources available with 21 new staff being welcomed to the business.

Bibby Travel’s parent company, Bibby Ship Management, recently acquired another business, Murray Fenton (India) Surveyors Limited, which saw India’s service offering expand into marine, cargo and offshore surveying including marine audit services. Both acquisitions were a strategic move to diversify the business away from a traditional technical management company as they strive to become a complete marine services business.

Alongside these acquisitions Bibby Ship Management have recently spent two million dollars on new simulator equipment for training centres in the Ukraine and India, as well as establishing a new senior management team tasked with taking the business forward.

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Bibby Ship Management, March 3, 2014