WFS buys majority stake in British Airways Regional Cargo

WFS buys majority stake in British Airways Regional Cargo    Worldwide Flight Services has purchased a 60 percent stakeholding in British Airways Regional Cargo (BARC), which operates more than 260,000 square feet of cargo handling space in 11 stations in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
   WFS acquired the stake from three of BARC's founders: Bryan Bullman, Jim Dunwoody and Malcolm Jackson. The remaining 40 percent will continue to be held by British Airways World Cargo.
   'BARC is an excellent strategic fit with the WFS business in the U.K. and Ireland with very little overlap, and gives us the additional presence we have been looking for to grow with both existing and new airline customers,' said Olivier Bijaoui, executive chairman, president and chief executive officer of WFS.
   BARC generates annual revenue of about '28 million and handles 110,000 tons of cargo per annum for British Airways World Cargo and other major airlines, including American Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Air India and GB Airways, WFS said.
   As part of the deal, all of the BARC cargo handling operations will be branded as Worldwide Flight Services. Sales activities undertaken by BARC for British Airways in the United Kingdom will continue under the current identity and as a dedicated division with its own management.