Chauffeured-Vehicle Firms CLS, Empire Agree to Merge
On Sunday night, Sherman Oaks-based CLS Worldwide Services had nearly 120 limos working into the wee hours, shuttling stars and their entourages to the Oscars and the parties that followed.
On Monday morning, CLS announced a union with Norwood, N.J.-based Empire International that the companies said created the second-largest fleet of chauffeured rental vehicles in the country.
Financial details of the deal weren’t released. In a joint statement, the privately held companies said Empire Chief Executive David Seelinger would be the chairman, CEO and majority shareholder of the combined company, GTS Holdings Inc. CLS President Leon Reitzenstein will be chief operating officer and president.
Empire and CLS will continue to operate under their respective names. The combined company will have locations in Los Angeles, New York, Norwood, Atlanta, San Francisco, Dallas, Aspen, Colo., and Columbus, Ohio, as well as affiliate relationships with limo operators in 550 cities worldwide.
“What it does is allows us to broaden our market base,” Reitzenstein said of the union.
Reitzenstein said the new company would have about $100 million a year in revenue.
CLS, which was launched in 1981 with a single car, ranked fourth in fleet size nationally in the 2004 industry survey by Limousine & Chauffeured Transportation magazine, with 520 stretch limos, sedans, SUVs, shuttle buses and motor coaches. Empire, which also provided about 120 limos for the Oscars, ranked fifth, with 438 vehicles.
The total of 958 vehicles ranks the combined company second in size behind Washington-based Carey Worldwide Chauffeured Services, which owns 1,123, according to the survey.
Neil Weiss, associate publisher of the magazine, said the deal probably would benefit both companies. “I’m sure there’s overlap, but I guarantee there are areas where they’ll complement each other,” he said.
