According to Nasdaq, chief executive Vincent Clerc said after the announcement of its fourth-quarter results,
“Our strategy is very clear, we need to diversify our revenue streams… something like Schenker coming into the market is definitely something that Maersk can’t just say we’re not even going to look at.”
Clerc highlighted the resilience of the sector post-Covid, noting “the reason we are doing this is because of the size of the deal…it will change the landscape in logistics.”
He also mentioned CMA CGM Group’s successful integration of its 2PL and 3PL offerings, pointing to potential synergies.
“So certain de-synergies that we may have feared in the past may not be what we thought. It would be irresponsible of us not to look at that and then we will see where it goes.”
The owner of logistics provider Schenker, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn, had been exploring a separation from its logistics subsidiary DB Schenker since late 2022 and finally launched the sale process in mid-December 2023 because “the subsidiary required additional capital and operational flexibility to support its own growth trajectory”.
Interested parties had until 15 January to request additional information and until 6 February to submit their registration statements, Nasdaq reports. According to other media sources, around 25 parties, including Denmark’s DSV, Switzerland’s MSC and Germany’s DHL, had filed by mid-January. The estimated purchase price is between 15 and 20 billion euros.