DFDS announces acquisition of Rotterdam-based Estron Group

Estron Group transports dry goods in trailers by road and ferry between mainly the UK and Germany, Benelux, and Poland. Both full- and part-load transports are provided based on a leased fleet of 300 trailers. Haulage is subcontracted.

Warehousing, cross-docking, and logistics services are provided from a 58,000m² leased warehouse located in the Port of Rotterdam.

The company has 130 employees and the annual revenue in 2022 was EUR 50m.

Commenting on the announcement, Niklas Andersson, Executive Vice President and Head of DFDS’ Logistics Division, said:

“The acquisition of Estron Group expands and enhances our road and ferry transport network connecting continental Europe and the UK. Our offering of warehousing and logistics services to especially our Dutch customers is also greatly improved.”

DFDS adds that the deal will boosts its road transport capacity to the existing full-load operation to and from the UK that combines road and ferry transport.

In addition, Estron Group’s part-load and warehousing operations complements the existing similar operations based in Wijchen, Netherlands.

“The acquisition thus strengthens customer offerings and is expected to generate both commercial and operational synergies,” concludes DFDS.

Closing is expected in Q3 2023. The transaction is not subject to regulatory approval.

The price of the shares corresponds to a stand-alone enterprise value/EBITDA-multiple of around 6x excluding synergies.