PwC Legal and PwC advise Fr. Meyer's Sohn on the acquisition of South African logistics company GAC Laser
Hamburg, 08th August 2025
An international and multidisciplinary team of PricewaterhouseCoopers AG Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft (PwC Legal), PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft (PwC Germany) and other advisors from the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) network advised Fr. Meyer's Sohn (GmbH & Co.) KG (FMS) on the acquisition of the South African freight forwarder GAC Laser International Logistics (Pty) Ltd. (GAC Laser) and its affiliated companies.
PwC Legal provided comprehensive legal advice to FMS, in particular with regard to the due diligence, drafting, negotiation and conclusion of the share purchase agreement. PwC Germany advised FMS on financial and tax matters.
FMS is a family-owned global forwarding company based in Hamburg. With over 1,000 transport and logistics specialists in more than 25 countries, FMS is one of the ten largest sea freight forwarders in the world. Tailored customer solutions across all modes of transport are a part of the FMS product portfolio as the optimization of supply chains.
GAC Laser was founded in 2007 and offers a comprehensive range of services in multimodal transport logistics, warehousing, truck transport, and project logistics. The company is represented in key South African economic centers with locations in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, and Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth).
The acquisition represents a significant milestone in FMS’s strategic expansion on the African continent.
Advisors to Fr. Meyer's Sohn (GmbH & Co.) KG
PwC Legal:
Ivo Dreckmann, Dr. Danielle von Hegel (both lead), Verena Riemer, Dr. Xiaoxi Zhang (all Corporate/M&A, Germany); Sibongile Solombela, Dean Milton, Kristen de Wet, Noxolo Tshabalala, Larissa Subramoney-Scholtz (all Corporate/M&A, South Africa)
PwC GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft:
Dr. Steve Janner, Dr. Andreas Woltschläger (both Financial Services, Germany); Johann Missal, Gerrit Mahnke, Vanessa Scholz (all Deals Tax, Germany); Angus Du-Preez, Ryelan Hardnick, Gaby Miles (all Deals Tax, South Africa)
About PwC Legal Business Solutions:
In our global, rapidly changing business world, cooperation, restructuring, transactions, financing and social responsibility are topics that increasingly concern our clients. They need legal certainty for a wide range of complex tasks. That is why we advise them holistically and in close cooperation with PwC’s tax, human resources and finance experts and our international legal network in over 100 countries. Whether a globally active company, a public corporation or a wealthy private individual, every client has a personal contact at our firm who supports them responsibly in all matters of commercial law. In this way, we help our clients to secure their economic success in the long term.
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About PwC:
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In this document, PwC Germany refers to PricewaterhouseCoopers GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, which is a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (PwCIL). Each member firm of PwCIL is a separate and independent legal entity.
The term PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of the legally independent network companies. Further details can be found at www.pwc.com/structure.
