UPS completes takeover of Menlo, plans to drop brand

UPS completes takeover of Menlo, plans to drop brand    UPS has completed the takeover of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding Inc. from CNF Inc. that was originally announced in early October.
   The giant Atlanta-based express and logistics group said Monday it will drop the name Menlo Worldwide Forwarding “soon” to offer its services under the UPS name. Menlo Worldwide Forwarding previously operated under the name Emery Worldwide.
   UPS paid CNF $150 million in cash and took on about $110 million in long-term debt for the Palo Alto-based forwarding and customs broker.
   “Menlo Worldwide Forwarding’s capabilities complement UPS’s ability to manage customers’ shipments of any size, anywhere and in virtually any time frame,” said Bob Stoffel, senior vice president of UPS’s supply chain group. UPS said the acquisition strengthens its ability to provide a broad array of global supply chain services, adding guaranteed U.S. and worldwide heavy air freight services to its portfolio.
   Menlo Worldwide Forwarding had 2003 revenues of $1.9 billion, generated from forwarding services for heavy air freight shipments, ocean services and international trade management.