SYNCHRONET BUYS GREYBOX EXCHANGE FROM TRANSAMERICA

SYNCHRONET BUYS GREYBOX EXCHANGE FROM TRANSAMERICA    SynchroNet Marine Inc., the San Ramon, Calif.-based operator of an online container equipment exchange, has acquired the Greybox Interchange Service from Transamerica Leasing.
   The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
   SynchroNet Marine will receive Greybox’s web-based container exchange client software, the staff of Greybox Interchange Service with offices in Chicago, London, Hong Kong and Singapore, and ongoing client relationships with existing customers.
   SynchroNet Marine, a venture capital-backed company set up in 1996, said that the joining of complementary sales forces and container exchange application software will result in “the widest variety of possible container exchange opportunities.”
   SynchroNet Marine, Greybox and other ventures aim to provide an online marketplace to allow container shipping lines and other container operators to improve their asset utilization by interchanging empty containers, matching their equipment flows and lowering the need for repositioning empty containers.
   Transamerica Leasing, a major container equipment lessor, will retain the Greybox name. The company said that it expects to remain a major user of interchanges.