Rotom takes another step towards becoming the European leader in sustainable load carrier solutions. With the acquisition of Maxi Palettes, Rotom is able to expand its load carrier services in the North of France and South of Belgium. Maxi Palettes is a privately owned company headquartered in Hallennes-lez-Haubourdin.
Maxi Palettes has strong trade and reconditioning activities in wooden pallets, supplying clients with c. #2.5 million pallets per year. Its network comprises three locations in the north of France, complementary to Rotom’s existing network in the region. Maxi Palettes has its own transport company (Agitrans) which is dedicated to Maxi Palettes´ pallet transportation movements, enabling Maxi Palettes to provide short notice delivery and pick-up of pallets from clients or suppliers.
“We manage the entire logistic loop for wooden pallets in the Northern region of France and South Belgium, from customer delivery to the collection at the place of receipt”, says Jean Lehoucq, CEO and founder of Maxi Palettes. “We have been growing very rapidly in the last years and the company is ready for the next phase of growth. We are very enthusiastic to have found a strong match with Rotom in terms of culture and ambition and are keen to complement our client services with the product and service portfolio of the Rotom Group”.
According to Rotom France MD Maxime Bortolotti, “Maxi Palettes activities in reused wooden pallets and related services fit perfectly within the sustainable mindset of Rotom. We are now able to significantly upscale our product and service offering, such as standard and bespoke (new and reused) wooden, metal and plastic load carriers and complementary pooling and packaging recovery services, to our clients in the region”. The operations of both companies will be gradually integrated with Rotom France and Jean Lehoucq remains on board to support a smooth integration process and support further business development.
Rotom supports companies with sustainable circular solutions for load carriers in 11 countries in Europe. It is able to manage the entire logistics of load carriers throughout a customer's supply chain, from the production location up to the retrieval at the end of the chain, with a single point of contact supported by a dense network of European locations. Rotom’s load carrier solutions ensure a more efficient and sustainable customer supply chain (including a reduction of supply chain costs and an increase of reused equipment and materials). Rotom serves customers through a broad range of logistic equipment products and services, such as:
- Logistic equipment (standard and client-specific sizes, new and reused): wooden pallets, plastic pallets, pallet collars, roll cages, storage systems, plastic crates, plastic pallet boxes, metal boxes, internal transport equipment.
- Services: rental, pooling, packaging recovery, returnable transport item management (“RTI”), product design, repair & maintenance, (re-)purchase of logistic equipment.
Rotom Group turnover exceeds €220 million in 2022 and the number of employees is over 500. Arjan Kuiper, CEO Rotom Europe: “Maxi Palettes is an outperformer in the wooden pallets business with a set of strong and reliable customers and a motivated team of employees. With Maxi Palettes being part of the Rotom Group, we are making a significant step to grow our activities in France and our international expansion of a comprehensive network in Europe for the delivery and reverse logistics of load carriers.”