Proventis Partners advised Castik Capital-backed Customs Support Group on the acquisition of ZSK Zollservice

Hamburg, June 29, 2022 – Customs Support Group B.V. (CSG), the number one digital customs broker in Europe, is expanding its market position in air cargo customs clearance in Germany with the acquisition of ZSK Customs GmbH (“ZSK”).

The Transaction

Customs Support Group, the number one digital customs broker in Europe, announces the acquisition of ZSK. With this acquisition Customs Support strengthens its local presence in Germany and expands its air freight capabilities. Both directors, Athanasios Koukaras – Tsismilis and Mladen Petricevic, will remain on board to continue the strong growth journey of ZSK together with CSG.

“Joining Customs Support is a great opportunity for both our clients and staff. We can offer clients best in class digital solutions for customs services, while our staff will enjoy the benefits of being part of the number 1 European customs broker.” – Athanasios Koukaras, Director of ZSK

“We are convinced that our clients will benefit greatly from the combined customs knowledge and comprehensive network of ZSK and Customs Support in Europe. By joining the leader in digital customs, we can service our clients even more with digital solutions and bring customs declarations to the next level in Germany and abroad!” – Mladen Petricevic, Director of ZSK

“With ZSK Customs joining Customs Support, we are offering clients more local presence and customs knowledge in main logistics hotspots in Germany. The team of Athanasios and Mladen is experienced, young and driven to provide the best service to clients! Together with the German team we can offer clients a broad and complete range of customs services in seventeen locations in Germany. Global customs expertise, local presence!” – Frank Weermeijer, CEO of CSG

The Role of Proventis Partners

Proventis Partners has supported Customs Support as exclusive M&A advisor in the expansion in the DACH-region for many years now. The acquisition of ZSK is the sixth successful acquisition and we continue to work on further acquisition opportunities. In addition to identifying the customs agency and contacting its shareholders, Proventis Partners carried out the strategic analysis of the target company and guided the further transaction process from due diligence and commercial negotiation to the successful execution. The Proventis Partners transaction team: Timo Stahlbuhk (Director, Hamburg).

About ZSK

tarted in 2001, ZSK Customs is well known for its outstanding service in declaration of goods, import and export customs clearances as well as transportation and logistics services around all Frankfurt airports. Thanks to a customer centric service approach, the company has grown into a highly valued and AEO certified customs player in the Frankfurt area. With a dedicated team of experienced and motivated customs experts, ZSK Customs has proven to be highly capable of delivering services fast and accurate to its client base. Being at the forefront of implementing digital solutions, the team of ZSK Customs delivers transparent customs services to clients. For more information, please visit www.zollservice-rhein-main.de

About Customs Support

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Customs Support Group is Europe’s leading independent, digital and neutral provider of customs services employing >1,250 dedicated customs professionals serving over 12,000 customers annually. Through our extensive service offering and digital capability, we consistently support our customers in maximising regulatory compliance, achieving operational efficiencies, import duty optimisation, duty planning, and ongoing development for a constantly shifting customs landscape.

In addition to traditional brokerage and digital services, Customs Support Group offers customs consulting and gas measurement services. The company is currently active in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Ireland, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland.

In Europe, Customs Support Group serves many cross-border clients in several industries such as automotive, food and beverage, and many more. Customs Support is the number one in digital customs and invests substantially in the digitalisation of the customs process. For more information, please visit www.customssupport.com

About Castik Capital

Castik Capital S.à r.l. (“Castik Capital”) manages investments in private equity. Castik Capital is a European Private Equity firm, acquiring significant ownership positions in European private and public companies, where long-term value can be generated through active partnerships with management teams.

Founded in 2014, Castik Capital is based in Luxembourg and focuses on identifying and developing investment opportunities across Europe. Investments are made by the Luxembourg-based fund, EPIC II SLP. The advisor to Castik Capital S.à r.l. is Castik Capital Partners GmbH, based in Munich. For more information about Castik Capital, please visit www.castik.com

About Proventis Partners

Proventis Partners is a partner-managed M&A advisory firm whose clients include a majority of medium-sized family-owned companies, group subsidiaries as well as private equity funds. With more than 30 M&A advisors, Proventis Partners is one of the largest independent M&A advisors in the German-speaking region and looks back on 20 years of M&A experience and more than 300 completed transactions. The M&A consultants with offices in Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Munich and Zurich are active in the sectors Industrials & Chemicals, Business Services, Consumer & Retail, TMT, Healthcare and Energy & Sustainability. The exclusive membership in Mergers Alliance – an international partnership of leading M&A specialists – enables Proventis Partners to support clients in 30 countries in the most important markets worldwide. The members of Mergers Alliance, with over 200 M&A professionals, provide Proventis Partners and thus its clients with unique access to local markets in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa.