U.K. agency acquires Johnson Stevens assets
A major U.K.-based shipping agent has agreed to buy assets of the Felixstowe-based Johnson Stevens Agencies from U.K. administrators.
Andrew Thorne, who owns several shipping companies in the United Kingdom and overseas, will take on certain shipping lines that were previously represented by the Johnson Stevens business, under the name JSA Global Ltd.
Johnson Stevens went into administration — the equivalent of bankruptcy — after the company became subject to a European trade embargo through their representation of IRISL, the state-run Iranian shipping line targeted by U.S. and European treasury officials for facilitating weapons shipments.
'This purchase makes our business the U.K.'s largest liner agency with a group turnover in the region of '50 million,' Thorne said.
