Global private-equity group Riverside Co. sees money to be made in shipping sensitive cargo such as organs, blood samples and critical airline parts, a specialty of Inglewood logistics company MNX.
Riverside bought MNX this month, with plans to continue the company’s international expansion. Scott Cannon, chief executive of MNX, said the acquisition by Riverside will help MNX open international offices, buy other companies and meet its goal of tripling revenue over the next few years.
“We have big, lofty goals for the next couple years,” he said. “They have capital and they have funds available to help us in our growth.”
MNX, founded 30 years ago as Midnite Express, specializes in same-day shipping of sensitive, high-value materials for clients that include entertainment, medical and aviation companies.
If a spare film reel needs to get to Toronto or a jet engine part needs to get to London, MNX sends a contractor to pick up the item. From there, it’s delivered to the nearest airport and loaded onto a commercial flight.
“We do what the FedExes and DHLs can’t do,” Cannon said. “If you need to get a shipment to New York, not overnight but in 10 hours, that’s what we do.”
Since 2008, Cannon said MNX has doubled its net income and boosted revenue to just shy of $100 million. The company has made a few acquisitions of its own. In February, MNX bought the same-day express delivery division of AirNet Cargo Charter Service in Columbus, Ohio.
Cannon said MNX was neither for sale nor looking for investors and that Riverside was “aggressive and preemptive” in approaching the company. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Executives at Riverside, which has offices across in the United States and in other countries, did not return calls for comment.
Asian Expansion
Van Nuys private jet charter company Jet Edge International is expanding its fleet – and geography – with a partnership in Asia.
Last month, the company inked a deal with Asia Jet in Hong Kong, giving Jet Edge a foothold in China and access to that country’s robust and still growing market for private jet travel.
Jet Edge manages planes on behalf of their owners and sells flights aboard those planes to third parties. Under the agreement, the company will operate all aircraft managed by Asia Jet, while Asia Jet will sell and market jet charters for its aircraft and for Jet Edge’s fleet.
Bill Papariella, president of Jet Edge, said the deal helps expand his fleet, giving him more buying power with fuel suppliers and other vendors. It also gives him access to Asian clients, who he said are willing to pay higher prices for private jet charters.
But he said Asian aircraft owners who let Asia Jet and Jet Edge manage their aircraft will benefit, too. Jet Edge will help owners register their planes with the Federal Aviation Administration, a process he said is much quicker than registering with the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
“There’s a logjam over there,” he said. “If you buy an aircraft, you won’t get it registered there for a year.”
By registering aircraft in the United States, Papariella said Chinese owners also avoid taxes on imported planes that can tack an additional 25 percent on the price of a jet.
“I get economies of scale and better margins,” he said. “They save on import taxes and get everything America has to offer, but they get to keep their plane in China.”
Ramping Up
Sun Hing Foods Inc. is growing fast and next year will move from a 70,000-square-foot distribution center in the City of Industry to a building three times that size.
The company, a wholesaler and distributor of ethnic foods, last week finalized the purchase of a 216,000-square-foot building at 14505 Proctor Ave., also in Industry, for $16.2 million.
Adam Dzierzynski, a senior vice president at Lee & Associates in Industry who represented Sun Hing, said the company’s lease is up in March and that executives wanted to expand while staying in the San Gabriel Valley.
The market for buildings in the area is tight, especially in Industry, and Dzierzynski said Sun Hing, based in South San Francisco, was lucky to find a building of that size for sale.
“Majestic Realty owns a ton of the property in the area and there are very few big-box purchase opportunities out there, especially in Industry,” he said.
Staff reporter James Rufus Koren can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 225.
