East Anglian freight forwarding business UFS has been acquired for an undisclosed sum by the Dutch logistics company IRF Holdings.

Eastern Daily Press: International Road Ferry owner IRF Holdings has acquired freight forwarding firm UFS.International Road Ferry owner IRF Holdings has acquired freight forwarding firm UFS. (Image: Archant)

The sale of Thetford-based UFS to IRF, with which it has worked as a transport partner for 20 years, marks the retirement of Ray Ludlam, following a long career in both freight forwarding and manufacturing.

IRF, which trades as International Road Ferry, is based in Rotterdam and already has UK bases at Felixstowe, Dover and Manchester as well as a presence in three other European countries.

'As part of the IRF group UFS now has access to the IRF facilities in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Poland and the IRF group can now list UK locations at Thetford, Manchester and Dover in addition to its own established location in Felixstowe,' said UFS in a statement.

'The staff of UFS wish Ray a long and healthy retirement and would like thank Ray and his family for their support over the years and now look forward to an exciting future as part of the IRF group.'

IRF was assisted in the deal by the corporate and commercial and commercial property teams at law firm Prettys, which has offices in Ipswich and Chelmsford.

In addition to managing the acquisition, Prettys facilitated the transfer of shares and ownership of commercial property in the UK.

Miz Choudhury, solicitor at Prettys, said: 'IRF is a long-standing client and we were pleased to bring together specialists from across the business to support their business growth.'

Fred Lagarde, director at IRF, added: 'Prettys provided us with the right advice and support to ensure that everything could progress smoothly. The acquisition of UFS will allow us to substantially grow our business and continue to meet the needs of our customers.'