DSV’s $16 Billion DB Schenker Deal Forms Freight Forwarding Goliath
DSV is officially acquiring DB Schenker from German railway Deutsche Bahn for 14.3 billion euros ($15.9 billion) in an all-cash deal that merges two logistics giants and creates the world’s largest freight forwarder by revenue.
With DSV generating 150.8 billion Danish krone ($22.4 billion) in revenue 2023 and Schenker reeling in 19.1 billion euros ($21.2 billion), both companies made a combined $43.6 billion last year. This puts the combined firm well ahead of the revenue totals at the other forwarding titans Kuehne + Nagel ($28.2 billion) and DHL’s global forwarding division ($21.4 billion).
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According to logistics market research firm Armstrong & Associates, DSV and DB Schenker were already the third- and fourth-largest freight forwarders in the world ahead of the deal. But post-acquisition, DSV estimates the combined company’s global market share will be between 6 percent and 7 percent—illustrating the logistics industry’s wider fragmentation even after a major takeover.
The transaction is expected to be accretive to DSV’s earnings per share in year two after its anticipated closure in the second quarter of 2025.
“This is a larger integration. But we don’t see that, apart from the size, that it’s a different exercise that we go into than the one we have experienced before,” said DSV CEO Jens Lund during a Friday morning presentation. “After year three, we expect that the businesses will make at least the same margins as we do today in DSV, across the board, and over time, we might even do a little bit better than that.”
Combined, 44 percent of the revenue comes from the firms’ air and ocean forwarding businesses, while another 33 percent originates from freight on the road. The remaining 23 percent comes from contract logistics, which includes transportation and warehousing.
Within the air and sea division, the addition of Schenker’s global network will handle approximately 4.3 million containers (TEUs) and approximately 2.4 million metric tons of air freight annually.
Contract logistics solutions will get a significant boost, nearly doubling warehouse space. Schenker provides additional warehousing capacity of approximately 90 million square feet to DSV, bringing the total capacity to approximately 190 million square feet across more than 60 countries, significantly expanding the customer offerings.