A major leader in road transport and logistics is about to emerge from the €14.3bn takeover of Schenker by Danish transport and logistics provider DSV. A consortium led by CVC Capital Partners was also in the running for the takeover, but DSV “came out on top with the offer that was clearly the most economically advantageous for DB,” said the rail operator.
Together, the companies will cover 90 countries, with a combined turnover of almost €40bn and 147,000 employees. This is enough to compete with heavyweights in the sector such as DHL, UPS and Fedex. The acquisition still has to be approved by Deutsche Bahn’s supervisory board and the German government.
“We have a clear plan for how we want to become one of the world's leading transport and logistics company together. Hand in hand and under one roof, the employees of DSV and Schenker will combine our strengths to create a true global leader in the industry,” said DSV CEO Jens Lund, whose head office is in Copenhagen.
“The sale of DB Schenker to DSV marks the largest transaction in DB's history and provides our logistics subsidiary with clear growth prospects,” commented Deutsche Bahn AG’s CEO Richard Lutz, who wants to refocus DB’s activities on rail infrastructure and passenger and freight transport, in line with his Strong Rail strategy.
In addition, the Danish market leader plans to invest around €1bn in Germany over the next three years, with the country set to become an even more important market in this new organisation. This is good news for the DB group, which posted a net loss of €2.35bn, a tenfold increase in one year. This means that it can look forward to “the structural restructuring of infrastructure, rail operations and profitability,” said Lutz. The union of these two players should also open up job opportunities in Germany, in both structures.
According to the press release published by the rail operator on 13 September, DB Schenker’s activities should all be retained, in particular the central functions located in Essen. It employs 72,700 people in 130 countries (1,850 sites), including one in Contern, Luxembourg. The Luxembourg subsidiary reported a profit for the year of €1.68m for 2023, and sales of €36m. It employed around 70 people.
This article was originally published in .