UTA expands its market footprint in Central and Eastern Europe
Union Tank Eckstein GmbH & Co. KG (UTA) is holding 51 percent of the shares in the Polish sales agency Timex Card SP. z o.o. This is the biggest acquisition in the company’s history. As a result, the provider of fuel and service cards now has a direct, strong foothold in Poland, the Baltic States and the Ukraine. At the same time, the mobility service provider is strengthening its business in Bulgaria by establishing its own organisation.
The Polish Timex Card SP. z o.o. now represents UTA in the Polish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian markets. In the six countries, some 1,800 haulage companies currently rely on UTA solutions that include interoperable tolling solutions in addition to a variety of mobility services.
With the purchase of the shares, UTA expands its footprint in Central and Eastern Europe and can drive the development of products more efficiently in this highly dynamic growth region. Currently, Poland, one of the leading international transport markets in Europe, and the Baltic States account for almost 35 percent of the European cabotage market (in terms of tonne per kilometer).
“The deal puts us even closer to the customer and enables us to quicker offer new products and services,” says Volker Huber, CEO of UTA.”With this purchase, we also want to increase our market share in freight companies as well as with cars and commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes. ”
The company headquartered in Kleinostheim/Main, is one of the leading providers of fuel and service cards in Europe. Business customers can use the UTA card system to refuel, independent of brand and without cash, at more than 55,000 service stations in 40 European countries and use other en-route services. These include toll invoicing, repair shop services, breakdown and towing services as well as the refund of VAT and fuel tax.