Küehne+Nagel Majority Owner Says It Is Increasing Efforts To Buy DB Schenker
The 85-year-old businessman and main owner of Küehne+Nagel, Klaus-Michael Kühne, is exploring all options to jump into the battle for the purchase of the coveted freight forwarder DB Schenker, he told Manager Magazin in an interview.
However, there are limits to what it can offer if one of the favorites, DSV, decides to go after the company.
In the interview, he would rule out the possibility of one of the two German transport companies buying DB Schenker alone. And, on the other hand, it opens the door to a model in which Küehne+Nagel could join a joint offer from one or more venture capital funds.
«We don’t want to be in the driver’s seat. We could bring technical knowledge through a minority stake, which could be interesting for venture capital funds,» explains Klaus-Michael Kühne.
Investment bank DNB Markets recently calculated that DSV could reap $1.029 billion in synergies if the Danish company hypothetically acquired DB Schenker. This figure is higher than its competitors and means that DSV can afford to put more money on the table in a bidding war.
DB Schenker has been put up for sale by the German state to raise funds for the indebted railway company Deutsche Bahn. The price is expected to be around US$14,294 million. The question, however, is whether the higher price is the only consideration when selling the company.
The shipping company is committed to maritime transport
In the interview, Klaus-Michael Kühne says that he could imagine the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, of which he owns around 30%, participating in a purchase of DB Schenker. He doubts, however, that the other shareholders will join.
He would also be interested in seeing the Hamburg shipping company change its current strategy and start focusing more on land logistics. Strategies similar to that of the Danish Maersk and the French shipping company CMA CGM, among others.
Although, Hapag-Lloyd does not wish to comment on the new statements, and last week, the shipping company’s chief executive stressed that the company is focusing on shipping.
Maersk has also previously been considered as a possible buyer of DB Schenker, but its chief executive, Vincent Clerc, has repeatedly turned him down.
By MundoMaritimo
#interview#strategy#investment#money#logistics#shipping#transport#markets#multimodalmarineinc
