Tauranga’s Tapper deal “bittersweet”

Port of Tauranga's US$10.6 million purchase of major Auckland cargo firm Tapper Transport is a "bittersweet" deal, according to port chief executive Mark Cairns, the Dominion Post reported.

Tapper founder Simon Tapper died after a long battle with cancer early last week, just before the deal went public.

Cairns said Tapper was a charismatic and well-regarded transport professional. He was a prominent figure of the Road Transport Forum who long championed a freight hub in Auckland's southern industrial area of Penrose.

The port was deeply saddened that it had to make the announcement without Tapper after four months of negotiations, Cairns said.

"He was so looking forward to today. In his mind, he had regarded it as a perfect closure for a career in the freight business that he was so passionate about."

Operating since 1984, Tapper Transport is the largest freight container station in Australasia, with 110 staff.

It handles the distribution of about 90,000 TEUs of import and export containers annually. Tapper also has a small shareholding in Cubic Transport, which distributes cargo using coastal shipping. 
 

(Source: Transport Weekly)