Sitra Group acquires Marlep Tanklogistik
13-01-2026
Sitra Group is pleased to announce that it has acquired Marlep Tanklogistik GmbH, a German based international transport company of temperature-controlled liquid raw materials for the food industry.
Established in 1962, Sitra Group is a family-owned business with its headquarters in Belgium, annual turnover in excess of EUR 300mio and over 1.600 employees located in 12 countries. Sitra operates more than 1.000 owned trucks and 2500 trailers/containers including liquid and powder food tankers.
Marlep Tanklogistik is a German headquartered tanker operator specialising in the liquid foodstuff industry, with a turnover of EUR 30mio, employing over 100 people and operating 50 trucks and 70 trailers. As well as its headquarters in Hamburg, Germany, it also has a key operating site near to Gdansk, Poland.
Marlep was founded in 2010 by Lars Johannsen, who will exit the business along with strategic investor, Boettger Logistik GmbH. Marlep will continue to be run by the current Managing Director, Marlon Roda.
Lars Johannsen, Marlep founder, commented on the deal: "After an exciting 15 years of founding and growing the business, I am delighted to hand over ownership to Sitra Group, who were an obvious candidate as buyer due to our shared values of providing a first-class customer service in food liquid logistics."
Marlon Roda, Marlep Managing Director, added: "Sitra’s acquisition creates the platform to take Marlep to the next level. I’m excited to lead this next phase alongside Sitra and to help unlock opportunities that were not accessible to us as an independent company."
Sitra Group is owned by the Saelens family and Creafund, an evergreen investment company that entered the business in 2021.
David Saelens, executive chairman of the board of Sitra Group, said: "Sitra Group is delighted to welcome Marlon and the Marlep employees to the wider Sitra family. Marlep has a reputation for providing a first-class service to its customer base and therefore we were very keen for the business to join our group. Sitra has an ambition to reach EUR 500mio of annual turnover in the next few years through organic growth and a buy-and-build plan, which has already seen Ricotto (Italy), Abbey Logistics Group (UK) and Albert Keijzer (Netherlands) join the group in the past three years. "
Kenneth Depuydt, Partner of Creafund added: "It is with great pleasure that we have added yet another high quality business to our growing group in accordance with our strategic plan. The quality of the Marlep offering really stood out for us when we first became aware of the potential opportunity and cemented our desire to bring Marlep into the Sitra family."
Birger De Smet, CEO for Sitra: "Marlep will enhance our operational excellence and represents a significant geographical expansion of our European network. I would like to extend a warm welcome to all Marlep employees and partners as they join the Sitra Group, and we look forward to collaborating closely in the future."
Sitra was advised by Scouting Capital Advisors (M&A advisor, Italy) and Rödl (Legal/tax/financial advisor and due diligence provider, Germany).
Marlep was advised by Nachfolge 360 (M&A advisor, Germany) and Hogan Lovells (Legal advisor, Germany).
For more information contact Jelle Verplanken, Chief Legal (j_verplanken@sitra-group.com) - any additional pictures can optionally be requested.
About Marlep
Marlep’s focus is on bulk liquid food logistics and was founded in 2010. It prides itself on first-class customer service that is underpinned by a focus on reliability, quality and flexibility. It is headquartered in Hamburg, Germany and has a key operating site near to Gdansk, Poland.
https://www.marleptank.com/en/
About Sitra Group
Sitra is one of Europe’s most prominent food logistic experts offering tailored and flexible logistic and supply chain solutions. The company manages the ingredient and product flow of the major blue chip food producers in Europe throughout the value chain. It is active as a one-stop shop solution provider, offering food logistics solutions and added value services such as storage on wheels and cross-docking. Sitra furthermore operates a network of cleaning stations all over Europe with a local presence in 12 countries.
About Creafund
Creafund is a sector-agnostic investment holding, operating since early 2001 and focusing on growth financing as well as buy-out capital of mature SMEs. Creafund’s portfolio companies (with total Assets Under Management of around EUR 350mio) all have a leading or unique and innovative product or technology and/or are active in sectors that can give opportunities for consolidation.