Deutsche Bahn selects the final four DB Schenker bidders

Deutsche Bahn has narrowed the number of potential buyers of freight forwarding subsidiary DB Schenker down to four bidders that have now been invited to make binding offers.

According to Reuters, the German rail giant has selected Maersk, DSV, Saudi shipping company Bahri and a private equity consortium led by CVC.

Deutsche Bahn said that in the next few weeks, the four companies would have the opportunity to make a binding offer for the forwarder.

Reuters said that the initial bids for the forwarder were between €14bn and more than €15bn.

The private equity bid is led by CVC and also includes Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and GIC, a subsidiary of Singapore’s state-owned investment company Temasek.

Deutsche Bahn announced at the end of last year that the forwarder was officially up for sale after spending a year mulling its options.

The forwarding giant is being sold by Deutsche Bahn as it looks to reduce debts.

Air Cargo News sister title DVZ reported earlier this year that Deutsche Bahn had asked interested parties to demonstrate their experience with logistics M&A deals of this size and that they have the appropriate financial resources.

They must also explain what interest they have in Schenker and give an initial insight into their plans for the company if they were to win the contract.

The sales documents show that a complete sale is still the preferred option, although interest in less than 100% of the shares would be considered, so a partial sale is not completely ruled out either.

If Maersk were to be successful, the takeover would push the Danish company close to the top three airfreight forwarders.

DSV, however, would become the world’s largest airfreight forwarder if its bid were successful, given it is currently ranked third and DB Schenker fourth.

AP Moller Maersk chief executive Vincent Clerc recently commented: “Our strategy is very clear, we need to diversify our revenue streams and our earning streams towards the more stable and less volatile part of the supply chain, which is pretty much anything outside ocean/2PL,” he said.

“In that respect, having something like a Schenker coming on the market is definitely something that Maersk cannot simply say we are not even going to look at.”

Bloomberg: Private equity and shipping giants circle DB Schenker