Italy: Fratelli Gambetta successfully integrated
Genoese sea freight forwarder with import focus offers customers significant added value.
One year after a. hartrodt acquired the sea freight forwarder Fratelli Gambetta in Genoa, the owner Giulio Gambetta draws a positive balance: "Our accounting is perfectly in line with a. hartrodt and our operations department works very well with the new organization and the network." The medium-sized companies merged 530 years after Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus discovered America, on October 12, 2022. While a. hartrodt in Italy has been strong in exports since 1960, Fratelli Gambetta has an import focus. "Now we offer everything from our one-stop shop," says Alberto Verardo, Joint Managing Director at a. hartrodt italiana.
Shared values are key for business succession
Giulio Gambetta (73) and his wife Elisabetta were looking for a company successor for the owner-managed freight forwarding company with six employees, founded in 1965 by his father and uncle. As the couple's daughters work as scientists abroad, a. hartrodt crystallized as a partner due to the shared company values. "Our customers haven't noticed any changes," says Giulio Gambetta.
Own warehouse offers space for pallets from Fratelli Gambetta
At the headquarters of the national company near the most important Italian container port in Genoa, a. hartrodt employs 40 people for sea freight, land transport and warehouse logistics. The 3,400-square-meter company-owned warehouse also provides space for an average of 400 to 500 pallets from Fratelli Gambetta. The owner highlights the "significantly simplified controls for unloading and reloading cargo". For 2024, Alberto Verardo's goal is to "increase Fratelli Gambetta's business through our access and offer new services to customers". For example, a. hartrodt has six air freight experts at its Milan office.
Giulio Gambetta looks "to next year's work with confidence" and will retire with his wife in March. By the end of 2024, the company integration will be completed commercially. Alberto Varedo emphasizes: "We are open to further acquisitions."