GeoLogistics is getting a new name and logo this week to reflect its new life as part of one of the world’s larger logistics companies.
Last year, Kuwait’s PWC Logistics acquired the Santa Ana-based shipping and logistics company for $454 million.
After a year of melding GeoLogistics and other acquisitions, PWC hired Los Angeles-based Siegel+Gale to rebrand the entire company.
Wraps still were on the effort as of last week. An early press release had “alphadog” as a placeholder for the new name, which is due today.
U.S. Base
GeoLogistics now serves as the U.S. headquarters for PWC Logistics, which has 20,000 workers and 450 offices in more than 100 countries.
Retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Toys “R” Us Inc. tap GeoLogistics to deliver goods to their stores.
GeoLogistics also handles shipping for General Electric Co. and keeps Royal Caribbean cruise ships stocked with supplies and food.
The company does more than just make sure goods go from point A to point B, according to Jerry Levy, vice president of marketing.
“We’re the travel agents for the supply chain,” he said.
GeoLogistics and its rivals have to be experts on shipping regulations and security measures, which have changed the industry in recent years, Levy said.
A company can lose money if it doesn’t have the right documents, he said.
GeoLogistics gets shipments through customs and tracks the flow of goods by sea, air or rail.
The company doesn’t own trucks or airplanes as do FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc.
Instead, GeoLogistics rents space on planes, ships, trains and trucks.
(In the Middle East, PWC does own about 3,000 trucks.)
Global Ambition
GeoLogistics’ parent is big and ambitious.
PWC has $4.5 billion in yearly sales and is profitable at an expected $600 million this year. The company is publicly traded in Kuwait.
By the end of 2008, PWC hopes to have $8 billion in yearly sales.
The company aims to be one of the top five logistics companies around the globe, up from No. 23 now, according to industry publication Traffic World.
Germany’s Deutsche Post AG, owner of DHL, Switzerland’s Kuehne + Nagel International AG and Germany’s Schenker AG, owner of Irvine-based BAX Global, dominate.
Acquisitions are a big part of PWC’s plans to expand its operations around the globe, according to Levy.
Along with GeoLogistics, PWC recently acquired New Orleans-based TransOceanic and Singapore’s Trans-Link, among others.
For the past year, PWC has focused on melding the companies and leveraging what each does.
Take GeoLogistics. The company’s sports and entertainment arm in Canada handled shipping for the musical production Stomp with help from Trans-Link.
GeoLogistics also handles trade shows and events. It can run an entire trade show or manage various aspects of a show, such as unpacking and moving exhibits.
It does work for the Asian Aerospace trade show and the Johnnie Walker Classic golf tournament.
Government Work
One of the company’s fastest-growing businesses: government services.
These days, PWC is one of the biggest suppliers of food to U.S. troops.
In 2005, the company won a five-year contract worth up to $180 million to provide distribution services to the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency in Kuwait.
GeoLogistics employs about 125 people in Santa Ana, mostly in management, marketing, finance and administration. It plans to expand locally, according to Levy.
Five years ago, GeoLogistics mainly was a freight forwarder, moving boxes from here to there.
In recent years, it’s expanded into storing stuff for customers and even “configuration”,assembling parts and delivering finished products.
“There’s a huge demand for that,” Levy said.
The move into services is essential to make money in an industry based on volume and slim profits.
The growth of world trade has boosted business, Levy said, though the industry suffered after the technology bust.
The 2001 terrorist attacks wreaked havoc on the business.
IPO Planned, Scrapped
GeoLogistics, which lost money during the downturn, started to rebound in 2003. Last year, it filed plans to go public in a bid to better compete with rivals such as Rancho Dominguez-based UTi Worldwide Inc., which has $2.8 billion in yearly sales and has made acquisitions.
GeoLogistics withdrew its plans for a public offering after former owner Questor Management Co. of Detroit opted to sell to PWC instead.
The new name being unveiled this week is designed “to create a preference in the marketplace,” Levy said.
All that was known last week: The name is a single word picked to be memorable and reflective of the corporate culture.
PWC hired Siegel+Gale, which has worked for 3M Co. and Adobe Systems Inc., to make sure the name would translate in different languages and have no bad meanings.
The company’s also branding three divisions: defense and government services, project logistics and fairs & events logistics.
GeoLogistics hasn’t felt any backlash being part of a Kuwaiti company, Levy said, like Dubai’s DP World saw earlier this year in its bid to run some U.S. ports.
“This is really a global company,” Levy said of PWC. “Less than half of our business is in the Middle East.”
Kuwait
Executives from GeoLogistics travel to Kuwait regularly, Levy said.
“I saw my first refrigerated pool,” he said.
Summers there are 130 degrees, so pools are cooled to 80 degrees, Levy said.
He described Kuwait as “very wealthy and very modern.”
Doing business around the globe means allowing for holidays and different schedules.
Levy said he usually does 7 a.m. conference calls on Mondays.
During the month-long Muslim holiday of Ramadan, the time gets pushed up to 5 a.m.
Levy works with a marketing team made up of representatives from the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
“Most of our management is bilingual,” he said.
Managers are expected to speak local languages, though English is the common denominator of business.
“I find it fascinating,” he said. “I’ve learned so much about cultures.”
