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EU Greenlights DSV’s $15.8B Schenker Purchase

[ April 11, 2025   //   Gary Burrows ]

Danish logistics company DSV has secured EU antitrust approval for its US$15.85 billion acquisition of German rival Schenker, creating what will become the world’s biggest logistics company, the European Commission said April 9, Reuters reported.

DSV announced the deal for the logistics arm of German state-rail operator Deutsche Bahn in September 2024.

The European Commission, which acts as the antitrust enforcer in the 27-country European Union, said the deal poses no competition issues.

“The transaction does not raise concerns given the fragmented nature of such markets, and the existence of several alternative providers to which customers could switch following the transaction,” the EU executive said in a statement.

The acquisition was the biggest by a Danish company and, according to DSV, propel it above DHL Logistics and Swiss group Kuehne und Nagel in both volume and revenue, but will still only give the group between 6 percent and 7 percent of a highly fragmented global logistics market.

DSV, which started as a small enterprise of 10 truckers in 1976, has grown through a series of acquisitions, sometimes taking over larger companies.

“The size of this one is actually larger than all the transactions we’ve done before,” CEO Jens Lund said in September.

Deutsche Bahn put Schenker up for sale last year to concentrate on its core railway business in Germany and reduce its debt.

CVC, a financial investor, was the other bidder remaining in the race to buy Schenker, after Maersk and Bahri withdrew their bids.

The all-cash transaction was financed through a combination of an equity raising of US$3.6 billion to US$4.5 billion and debt financing, DSV said. The combined group will have revenue US$43.52 billion, based on 2023 results, with a workforce of about 147,000 across more than 90 countries.

DSV CFO Michael Ebbe told Reuters it planned to cut 1,600 to 1,900 jobs out of Schenker’s German workforce of 15,000. But he stressed that with 1 billion euros investments planned in Germany the combined group will have more employees in Germany five years from now than Schenker and DSV currently have combined.

German labor unions bristled against selling Schenker to DSV, fearing potential job losses, but DSV agreed to spend US$9 million in extra compensation to soothe union resistance.

Tags: Bahri, CVC, Deutsche Bahn, DSV, Maersk, Schenker AG