DHL express interest in DB Schenker
THE future of German freight forwarding giant DB Schenker is again under consideration with Deutsche Post-owned DHL Global Forwarding chief executive Tim Scharwath telling Reuters that his company was ready for a large acquisition, reported London’s Air Cargo News.
Mr Scharwath said that if Deutsche Bahn-owned DB Schenker were put up for sale, Deutsche Post would have to examine whether it would be a good fit and also whether any deal would be financially attractive.
DHL would also need to examine how complex the integration would be, he said, adding that at this stage it was still unclear whether DB Schenker would even be put up for sale.
His comments echoed those of Deutsche Post – at the time – chief executive Frank Appel who said there would be three criteria for any acquisition: Does that company make us better, is it easy to integrate and is it accretive?
In December, Deutsche Bahn assembled a team to examine the potential sale of up to 100 per cent of DB Schenker. Meanwhile, it was reported by Bloomberg that Deutsche Bahn is open to selling its forwarding business to a financial or strategic investor.
The same report valued DB Schenker at around US$20 billion. Deutsche Bahn is weighing up the sale of a full or partial stake according to the same Bloomberg report.
