(Bloomberg) — DSV A/S agreed to buy Deutsche Bahn AG’s logistics unit at an enterprise value of €14.3 billion ($15.9 billion) in a deal that will turn the Danish company into the world’s largest freight-forwarder.
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DSV on Friday signed an agreement to acquire DB Schenker in an all-cash transaction, the company said. The equity value is €11 billion.
DSV, which was founded by 10 Danish truckers in the 1970s, grew through a string of acquisitions in the fragmented transport industry, including buying targets that were larger than itself. The takeover will be the first challenge for Chief Executive Officer Jens H. Lund, who took the top job earlier this year from Jens Bjorn Andersen, under whom the DSV share price jumped more than 10-fold over a 15-year tenure.
The company, which is based west of Copenhagen, has built a reputation as a master integrator of its acquisition targets, often raising the group’s combined profit margin once the takeover has been digested. In late 2022, DSV finished the integration of its most recent large takeover, the $4.1 billion purchase of Kuwaiti logistics company GIL, and has since said it was ready to make a new one.
Bloomberg News previously reported that DSV competed against buyout firm CVC Capital Partners Plc in the final stages of the bidding. Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk A/S was also previously among those interested in buying, but dropped out in July.
The transaction is subject to approval by Deutsche Bahn’s supervisory board and Germany’s transport ministry, as well as customary regulatory approvals.
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