June 16 - The Toll Group has reached agreement for the purchase of 1000f the shares in Perkins Group Holdings Pty Limited, the parent of the Perkins Shipping Group. The conditions for the transaction include competition clearance.

The Perkins Group, which provides shipping, integrated freight services, land haul services and general freight services, will be joining a leading company which generated revenue in excess of AUD5.6 billion for the year ending June 2008 and employs 30,000 people in more than 50 countries around the world.

Services offered by Perkins Shipping include international shipping between Darwin and Singapore via Timor Leste and coastal shipping throughout northern Australia, as well as project forwarding operations.

"The increasing importance of south-east Asian trade to northern Australia reinforces the future prospects for organic growth of the Perkins' international shipping services linking Australia and Asia. The Toll Group's internationally integrated service offering is already benefiting our Asian and Australian customers. With its potential for future regional growth we are confident our customers will find Perkins Shipping a valuable addition to the Toll Group," said Paul Little, managing director of the Toll Group.

"Toll's strong balance sheet and the group's exceptional existing businesses continue to provide the funding capacity and platform to acquire quality assets like Perkins Shipping despite current difficult economic times," Mr Little said.

Topics