Deutsche Bahn sells Schenker to DSV: A new giant in the logistics industry emerges

The supervisory board of Deutsche Bahn AG (DB) officially approved the sale of the logistics company Schenker to the Danish company DSV on Wednesday. The merger of the two companies creates a new global logistics giant with an impressive annual revenue of 43.5 billion US dollars. The newly formed company surpasses the previous market leader Kuehne+Nagel from Switzerland, which generated a revenue of 28.11 billion US dollars. With approximately 147,000 employees at 1,850 locations in over 130 countries, the merger will set benchmarks in terms of employee numbers and global presence. The German federal government also gave its approval to the deal on Wednesday, which is expected to be completed by 2025, subject to further regulatory approvals. Deutsche Bahn decided on the sale in September to focus more on the domestic passenger transport business and simultaneously reduce debt amounting to approximately 33.25 billion US dollars. The combined logistics infrastructure now arising includes 4.3 million twenty-foot container units annually, 2.64 million tons of air freight, and 1.88 million square meters of warehouse space in over 60 countries. DSV has announced plans to invest about 1.1 billion US dollars in Schenker. The company, founded in Vienna in 1872, is the latest acquisition by DSV, which has already made other significant acquisitions such as UTi Worldwide from the USA, Panalpina from Switzerland, and Kuwaiti Global Integrated Logistics. DSV prevailed in this deal against a private investor consortium led by CVC Capital Partners from New York.