Introduction

Our firm was engaged to perform a comprehensive competitive assessment of a leading maritime terminal operator with multiple facilities across North America. The client, a private equity firm, required an in-depth competitive positioning analysis across a portfolio of 15 terminals representing approximately 80% of the target company’s revenue. The assessment focused on identifying competitive advantages, operational vulnerabilities, and sustainability of revenue streams, particularly examining the impact of pandemic-related supply chain disruptions on storage revenues. The consulting team’s analysis provided the private equity firm with critical insights for their investment decision, highlighting portfolio strengths and terminal-specific competitive dynamics that would impact long-term profitability.

At A Glance

Our market experts delivered a multi-faceted competitive assessment of 15 maritime terminals across the U.S., Canada, and internationally, evaluating their strategic positioning, operational capabilities, and revenue sustainability. Our analysis leveraged our network’s deep maritime logistics expertise and decades of combined experience in terminal operations, port development, and marine transportation.

Requirements

  • Develop a standardized competitive assessment framework evaluating interport competition, intraport competition, mode/format shift risk, and capability advantages
  • Analyze the sustainability of elevated storage revenues that emerged during pandemic supply chain disruptions
  • Provide actionable insights on terminal-specific competitive vulnerabilities and opportunities for enhanced revenue generation

The Challenge

The private equity client was evaluating a significant investment in a major terminal operations company with diverse facilities handling bulk, breakbulk, and containerized cargo across multiple geographies. While the target company demonstrated strong overall financial performance, the investor needed to understand the competitive positioning of each key revenue-generating terminal within its specific market context. Critical questions included:

  1. How vulnerable were individual terminals to competition from nearby ports, competitors within the same port, or alternative transportation modes?
  2. To what extent were recent revenue increases, particularly from storage operations, sustainable in a post-pandemic environment?
  3. Which terminals benefited from durable competitive advantages versus those facing potential market share erosion?

The analysis was further complicated by the diverse nature of the portfolio, which included dedicated terminals serving single customers, multi-purpose facilities handling various cargo types, and specialized operations with unique equipment requirements. Each terminal operated within distinct competitive dynamics, requiring individual assessment while maintaining a portfolio-level perspective.

PraxiChain Solution

  • Deployed a specialized maritime assessment team with direct operational experience in bulk, breakbulk, and container terminal management across North American ports
  • Developed a 20-point competitive assessment scoring system evaluating four critical dimensions: interport competition, intraport competition, mode/format shift risk, and capability/infrastructure advantages
  • Conducted detailed terminal-by-terminal analysis incorporating port infrastructure, equipment capabilities, customer relationships, labor dynamics, and geographic positioning
  • Leveraged proprietary marine cargo flow models to evaluate the sustainability of pandemic-driven storage revenue patterns
  • Identified portfolio-level diversification strengths across geography, cargo formats, terminal ownership structures, and customer industries

Results

The analysis revealed a moderately competitive landscape with an average assessment score of 9.2 out of 20 across the terminal portfolio. The most significant competitive pressures were identified at operations in a South US location, while terminals serving dedicated industrial customers demonstrated the strongest competitive positioning with scores as low as 4-5, indicating a minimal competitive threat.

The portfolio analysis highlighted valuable diversification across geographic regions, cargo types, and customer industries, providing natural hedges against market cyclicality. Several terminals demonstrated sustainable competitive advantages through specialized equipment investments, strategic locations adjacent to key customers, and long-term contractual relationships that created high barriers to entry.

The storage revenue sustainability assessment identified specific terminals where pandemic-driven revenue increases would likely persist versus those where regression to historical means was anticipated. This analysis proved particularly valuable for terminals that had experienced 5-10x growth in storage revenue during 2021-2022, providing realistic forecasts for future performance.

Our team of expert findings enabled the private equity firm to develop a nuanced investment thesis recognizing both portfolio-level strengths and terminal-specific opportunities for operational improvements and revenue enhancement in the post-pandemic environment.